ABSTRACT
As the enlargement proceeded through different stages, the historical rationale permeating the process had to be reassessed many times and in different ways. This chapter offers a survey of the main documents and official declarations in which the idea that the enlargement was a historical need is repeatedly affirmed. In particular, I dwell on a rhetorical device, namely the expression ‘return to Europe’, which implies the identity of a specific historical pattern and the very concept of Europe. At the same time, I emphasise the constant adjustment of the historical discourse in order to face the different stages of enlargement. This becomes particularly important as we observe the current declarations by politicians like Viktor Orbán and Mateusz Morawiecki, whose nationalist stances seem to be partially withheld precisely by a sense of belonging to a European historical community.
