The Twenty-Seven of the EU will meet this Tuesday at a summit in the capital of Albania with the leaders of six Western Balkan countries in order to discuss EU enlargement in particular. The war in Ukraine underscored the importance for Europeans of stabilizing this fragile region of south-eastern Europe, of countering the influence of Russia there as well as that of China, which has invested in the infrastructure of those countries.
In July, the EU opened accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania (candidates since 2005 and 2014 respectively). These talks have also been ongoing for several years with Montenegro and Serbia. In October, the Commission recommended granting candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a decision that will come to the European Council on December 15-16.
For Kosovo, on the other hand, the obstacles to a candidacy are numerous. This former predominantly Albanian Serbian province proclaimed its independence in 2008, which Belgrade does not recognize. Five EU countries do not recognize it either (Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia).
