Persuaded by History but not Yet Ready: Italian Perspectives on the 2004 EU Eastern Enlargement

This contribution reconstructs, in its first part, the evolution of the Italian approach through an analysis of the positions held by the governments in office from 1992 to 2001, and the public debate involving media and civil society. The second part presents the evaluations of the main benefits and costs attributed to the enlargement process in Italy and the related political-diplomatic initiatives the country sought to pursue. The third and final part describes the support for enlargement expressed by Italian public opinion during those years.