The eastern enlargement of the EU in 2004 is acclaimed by many, especially the elites, as the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries “returning to Europe”. Enlargement is encouraged by ambitions of forming Pan-European unity, extending its influence, promulgating the ideas of the free market economy, pluralistic democracy, and democratic values, and preventing conflict between newly-independent countries. However, searching for stability inside and greater effectiveness outside of European elites via Eastern enlargement is in contradiction with that the expansion will be cause of massive influx of migrants. Since, this was the first time in EU’s history that many countries and people in this size would have joined the EU at the same time via 2004 enlargement. In the eyes of the “old Europeans”, the wealth disparity between the old and new members and the more dynamic demographic structure of Eastern Europe might cause massive migration. It’s for this reason that Eurobarometer surveys in the late 1990s repeatedly showed that many Europeans opposed to “big-bang enlargement” feared losing their jobs. READ MORE