15 years ESJ Special edition www.eujournal.org 33 Geopolitical Aspects of the EU Enlargement Process: Macedonian and Ukrainian Case Jordanka Galeva, Associate Professor Faculty of Law, Goce Delcev University, Stip Doi:10.19044/esj.2025.v21n43p33 Submitted: 12 August 2025 Accepted: 22 September 2025 Published: 25 October 2025 Copyright 2025 Author(s) Under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 OPEN ACCESS Cite As: Galeva, J. (2025). Geopolitical Aspects of the EU Enlargement Process: Macedonian and Ukrainian Case. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 21 (43), 33. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2025.v21n43p33 Abstract This paper compares the integration processes of North Macedonia and Ukraine, which have recently opened EU accession negotiations. The significant disparity in the pace of their integration processes - remarkably slow in the case of North Macedonia and exceptionally fast in the case of Ukraine - serves to examine whether EU enlargement decisions are shaped more by the institutional criteria or by geopolitical interests of member states. Using a comparative approach, the study analyzes the European policies and relations with both countries and the EU role in addressing their internal and external disputes. The study aims to demonstrate how EU enlargement is shaped by EU standards and geopolitical interests, interpreting the findings through intergovernmental and realist perspectives that emphasize state- driven decision-making and security imperatives. The results reveal that North Macedonia’s accession was delayed due to non-criteria political disputes, while Ukraine’s accession process was accelerated for security reasons, demonstrating how geopolitical considerations can outweigh normative standards in EU enlargement. Keywords: European enlargement, N. Macedonia, Ukraine, geopolitics, intergovernmentalism, realism