The European Union has been weakened by Brexit and may need to postpone plans for expansion into the Western Balkans, the President of Slovenia has warned.

Borut Pahor said the bloc could not hope to take on the likes of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania as new members in its current state.

Speaking in the presence of the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Mr Pahor said: "A weak EU will not be able to expand to the Western Balkans.”

US Vice President Joe Biden has given his backing to Kosovo joining the European Union (EU) and promised £1.7billion in aid. VP Biden and his wife Jill flew into Serbia and Kosovo in a bid to smooth over a border and immigration row bubbling away in the Balkans. And he said politicians in the capital Pristina will have to do more to help ensure the growing status of the Serbian community in Kosovo if they hope to enter the EU. Mr.

IT WAS billed as Brussels’ biggest and most expensive foreign crisis mission, a chance for the EU to proudly fly its flag while bringing order to lawless Kosovo.

By: Marco Giannangeli
Published: Sun, November 2, 2014

Yet last night that dream lay in tatters when it emerged that senior EU officials were themselves being accused of corruption.

Created in the wake of Kosovo’s independence in 2008 the mission, called Eulex, was intended to stabilise the fledgling nation from the bribery and corruption affecting every part of its hierarchy.