V4 to carry flame for Balkan hopes of EU membership

As the EU suffers ‘enlargement fatigue’, Visegrad Four nations in Central Europe are determined to support Balkan aspirations to join the bloc — but will they make effective advocates?

Illustrative stock photo (Source: AP/TASR)
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When the new European Commission begins work, it will grapple with issues threatening the very fabric of the European Union: Brexit, migration, the rule of law.

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Safe to say the concerns of wannabe EU members in the Balkans will not top the Commission’s agenda, according to EU diplomats.

But in an increasingly fractious Europe, officials from Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) say they will champion the cause of EU enlargement within the new Commission.

Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are all EU candidate countries while the European Commission sees Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo as potential candidates.

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