Part 5/11:
However, the era of unbridled optimism seems increasingly distant. The significant eastward expansion and absence of a solid security architecture within the EU have led to a renewed focus on individual national interests, leading to skepticism about the EU's ability to function as an effective supranational body. As crises emerge—economic, social, and geopolitical—member nations appear more willing to retreat into their own camps, revealing a distrust of the communal ideal that once united them.