WITH Russia riding roughshod over Europe’s post-Cold War order, the 10th anniversary of the European Union’s “Big Bang” enlargement on May 1 — which brought in eight former communist East European countries as well as Malta and Cyprus — has been an understandably muted affair.

The crisis in Ukraine and confusion over how to deal with Russia and President Vladimir Putin cast a dark shadow over the 28-nation bloc. It’s still not clear whether EU — or American — sanctions imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea are biting Moscow as hard as anticipated. Certainly, despite pressure from their governments, many European business leaders are reluctant to shut the door on Russia.

But Russia and Ukraine aren’t Europe’s only problems. As Europeans go to the polls later this month to vote for a new European parliament, the anti-Europe message of xenophobic Far Right parties appears to be winning hearts and minds across the continent.

In fact, it’s been a tough 10 years for the EU. The bloc’s economy continues to sputter with no serious signs of sustained recovery and unemployment — especially among young people — remains depressingly high. Years of austerity programmes have had a devastating impact on many European societies. Inequality is growing. And as Scotland and Catalonia ponder separation from Britain and Spain respectively, British Tories are stepping up the campaign to leave the EU.

While Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta have taken their place at the EU table — followed by Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 — many still make a distinction between “old” and “new” Europe, especially when it comes to the rights of East European citizens to work in other EU states.

And yet, for many on Europe’s periphery, the EU’s power of attraction remains largely undimmed. Ask Ukrainians who took part in the Euromaidan protests against former President Viktor Yanukovych after he chose closer relations with Russia over an EU trade and aid offer aimed at deepening ties with the country.

Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Albania are still waiting to join the EU. And many in Turkey believe EU membership would have stemmed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s slide into authoritarianism and provided Ankara with an anchor for reform and moderation.

Boatloads of asylum seekers continue to arrive on Europe’s shores in search of a better life, only to often find themselves interned in overcrowded camps in Lampedusa and elsewhere.

At a recent conference in Brussels, civil society representatives from the EU’s southern neighbourhood — Middle East and North Africa — insisted Europe should remain engaged in their troubled region to prevent further strife.

True, the US and Saudi Arabia loomed large over the Middle East, with China now also emerging as a powerful player, but it was Europe to which the people of the region turned for inspiration and assistance, they said.

Such talk is music to the ears of men like European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso who insisted recently that enlargement had made Europe had strengthened Europe’s weight in the world.

That is pushing it a bit. Europe’s global role remains modest. In its immediate neighbourhood, however, the EU still has clout.

Certainly, in the last century, Europe’s ability to nurture new democracies helped Greece, Spain and Portugal to firmly turn their backs on military dictatorships and join the Western mainstream.

As funds flowed in, all three countries clambered up the development ladder, discarding a dark past dominated by generals and colonels. EU funds are also helping reform and modernisation efforts in Eastern European countries as they escaped Russia’s yoke.

For many, the biggest flaw in 2004 was the admission of Cyprus into the EU while it was still a divided island. That imported problem remains one of the EU’s most important unresolved issues.

The 2004 enlargement also contained within it the seeds of another mistake: the premature admission of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 although many believed they were not ready for membership.

Although some argue that the EU should also have started an accession process with Ukraine following the Orange Revolution in 2004-2005 to ensure stable governments in Kiev, as the EU ponders today on how best to help Ukraine, membership for the troubled country is definitely not on offer. Moldova and Georgia are equally unlikely to get the entry green light in the near future. And negotiations with Turkey are making slow — very slow — progress.

Their celebration of the 2004 enlargement notwithstanding, EU leaders know their citizens have lost their appetite for further enlargements. With only three weeks to go to the European parliament polls and populist politicians rage against the evils of “Brussels”, the real fear is that Europeans are also losing their appetite for the EU.

—The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Brussels.