EU considering Balkan states joining the bloc

The European Union is increasingly willing to consider Western Balkan states joining the bloc, which could help ensure peace in the region while enriching the EU itself, the bloc's integration commissioner said.

"There is more willingness among [EU] member-states to address an enlargement [than a year ago]," Johannes Hahn told Austrian daily Wiener Zeitung in an interview published on Tuesday.

Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are official candidates for EU membership while Bosnia and Kosovo are seeking the same status.

[Reuters]