EU may lack will to upgrade Berlin Process for Balkans

Subject

The 2017 Western Balkan summit.

Significance

The recent crisis in Macedonia was the climax of multiple worrying developments for the Western Balkans, a region now in an ominous state of flux. The Berlin Process, whose fourth and penultimate summit was held in Trieste on July 12, is the most prominent initiative to assist regional states prepare for EU membership, a goal that remains uncertain.

Impacts

• Improving economic conditions and living standards could ‘make or break’ any new EU initiative.
• Thanks to Brexit, the last summit in London in 2018 will probably focus more on security and issues other than EU integration.
• Those countries involved in the process will probably profit more from business generated by new infrastructure projects.