Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj argues in his opinion piece “almost all countries in the Balkans believe that the publication of the European Commission’s Progress Reports has been postponed due to developments in these countries”. “In Kosovo because of the Assembly crisis; in Montenegro due to protests, in Macedonia due to the crisis of implementing the agreement between the political parties, in Albania because of CEZ or ‘decriminalization’, in Serbia because of ‘Chapter 35’ and in Bosnia-Herzegovina due to Republika Srpska’s threat to hold a referendum. The truth however seems to be that the Progress Reports were postponed because of the situation in Turkey, in anticipation of the outcome of elections and to somewhat soften the critical tone toward the Turkish government, at a time when the European Union expects Ankara to help stop the wave of refugees”. Palokaj also writes that whenever the Progress Reports will be published, “they will not contain a lot of good news. This time, according to sources in Brussels, the reports will bring a real picture on how far these countries are from their objective to become member states of the European Union”.