EU, Balkan Leaders Gather in Sofia for Summit

Leaders of the 28 EU states and six Western Balkan countries meet on Thursday in Bulgaria, the EU's current presidency-holder, with a host of unresolved issues to be discussed with the aspiring members of the European bloc.

BIRN sources within the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry also said there are few expectations of final resolutions to the two main bilateral issues in the Balkans that hinder the EU enlargement progress of the countries involved - the Serbia-Kosovo normalisation dialogue and the Greece-Macedonia 'name' talks.

The Foreign Ministry sources confirmed there is a planned meeting on the sidelines of the main summit between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev. But there is no signal that there will be a similar meeting between Serbian President Alexander Vucic and his Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci.

"I really hope that Vucic and Thaci shake hands after the end of the summit, and show to the world that the Balkans can be just as civilised as the two Koreas," Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday.

More optimism surrounds the Zaev-Tsipras meeting, which will be focused on finding a compromise solution to their long-standing bilateral name dispute which is blocking Macedonia's accession to NATO and the EU.

The meeting is seen as an important milestone in the ongoing talks between the two sides, which have been going on intensively for the past four months.

Many observers believe the talks are at their final and most sensitive phase, and that the two premiers' meeting may yield some breakthrough.

Macedonia's Zaev said this week that while he remains an optimist, the summit should not be seen as a deadline for reaching a compromise.

On Wednesday, the...