The Beleri case and Balkan policy

The situation in some parts of the Western Balkans is volatile and problematic in the rest. Prospects of joining the European Union have faded and the fresh momentum stemming chiefly from Ukraine but also from Moldova in the shadow of the Moscow-Kiev war has stumbled on the unwillingness of certain member-states in the union to accelerate enlargement, as well as on the inability of national governments to carry out reforms bringing their country's system up to EU standards. I remember being in Washington, DC, a year ago, and hearing the cry of despair from North Macedonia's then-foreign minister, Nikola Dimitrov, concerning the grave consequences on the Western Balkans' stability and democratization if their citizens began to lose faith in EU intentions for enlargement.

Greek policy has perforce entered a new cycle 20 years after the first EU-Western Balkans Summit took...