UK Political Turmoil Overshadows Balkan Summit

 The opening of the London West Balkans Summit was thrown into confusion on Monday as one of its hosts, the UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, dramatically resigned on the morning of the summit - while the other, Prime Minister Theresa May - was locked in a brutal battle for political survival.

Johnson threw in the towel shortly after May secured cabinet approval for the UK to go for a "soft" Brexit - making as few changes with the EU relationship as possible - so angering Johnson and other Conservatives who had demanded a cleaner break.

The tumult in Britain's ruling party - which could force May into a leadership challenge while propelling Johnson from the government - overshadowed the start of the summit, which had been billed as an opportunity for the UK to show that a post-Brexit Britain would remain closely involved with the Balkan region.

It was now set to open with a deeply distracted PM and an outgoing Foreign Secretary with no further stake in the job. A BBC blog on Monday afternoon said Johnson had yet to turn up at the summit.

This was not the message that the UK had intended when it opted to host the meeting.

"The UK wants a strong, stable and prosperous Western Balkans region. By hosting the summit in London, we demonstrate our continued interest and involvement in the stability of the region beyond our exit from the EU," the UK Government had said earlier.

The summit had set itself a threefold task of strengthening economic cooperation, regional security cooperation to tackle common threats such as terrorism, and political cooperation to overcome so-called legacy issues and bilateral disputes, such as the Kosovo-Serbia dispute.

The political glitches will annoy the British Foreign Office, which has flagged...