No time soon: EU dashes membership hopes of Balkan states (The Guardian)
Concerns over rule of law and corruption, plus enlargement fatigue, meant the six countries got little from Sofia summit
Keep waiting in line, but don’t expect the door to open any time soon. That was the message delivered on Thursday to six Balkan states hoping to join the EU.
The six had been invited to the EU heads of state summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, as a gesture to reaffirm their path towards EU membership. Instead, the summit was notable for divisions on whether or not the bloc could cope with further enlargement in the foreseeable future.