EU no longer agrees on Balkan membership guarantee, diplomats say – Reuters

The EU, fearing a backlash in member countries, can no longer agree on the future membership of six Balkan states, according to four diplomats and an internal document.

An impasse over a declaration for a summit of EU and Balkan leaders on Oct. 6 is a low point in the EU’s strategy to bring Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia into the bloc.

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At the summit, the EU planned to restate its promise made 18 years ago to give “its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans,” according to a draft summit declaration dated Sept. 11 seen by Reuters. That has undergone at least two rounds of talks with no agreement, diplomats said.

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