(6 Feb 2020) The European Union's proposed new system for adding members aims to reinstate the bloc's influence in the Western Balkans, the bloc's Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi said on Thursday.
There are worries that if the EU does not do more to attract countries in the Balkans, some may look to bolster relations with Russia and China.
The bloc is already under pressure after losing the diplomatic and geopolitical clout of Britain, which officially left the union last weekend.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi started his tour of the region in Serbia, and said he wanted to "reinforce" the EU's leverage.
"With the new Commission, EU enlargement policy and involvement with the Western Balkans is an ever greater priority," he said.
His visit comes a day after the European Commission proposed to streamline rules to avoid further delays in the membership applications of potential EU aspirants.
The EU is pushing changes to the system it uses to add new members in a move that should make the opening of enlargement talks easier for the Balkan nations.
North Macedonia and Albania were left aghast when their hopes of starting accession talks late last year were dashed, with France insistent that the enlargement process was revamped first.
Serbia and Montenegro are considered the front runners for joining the 27-nation bloc.
Over the past 12 years, which were dominated by economic and migrant crises, the appetite for taking in new, poorer nations has dwindled within the EU.
The EU has not incorporated a new member state since Croatia joined in 2013. The bloc started out with six nations in 1958 and lost its first member state when Britain pulled out.
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