The Western Balkans and the stalled prospect of EU membership

On Wednesday EU leaders tried to reassure Western Balkan countries they could eventually join the EU if they met its standards, but the leaders failed to provide a credible signal that the bloc’s enlargement process will be relaunched in the near future.

Instead, it looks like membership is slipping further into the future, to the frustration of candidate countries. The EU has spent many years and billions of euros preparing Balkan countries to join the bloc. This is also an effort supported by the US, which hopes it will spread stability in the volatile region and counter Russian and Chinese influence. Laurence Norman joins our host Thanos Davelis to discuss the EU summit in Slovenia on the issue, why the bloc’s Balkan expansion has stalled, and what’s at stake for the region.

Norman is the Deputy Bureau Chief of the Brussels Bureau for The Wall Street Journal covering the European Union and its foreign policy.