ADVisiting the city on the eve of the summit, North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev recalled the leaders’ promise to cast their verdict this month. The prospect of EU membership has been a powerful driving force for reforms in the Balkans since the former Yugoslavia disintegrated into war in the early 1990s. Turkey’s membership talks, for example, are virtually frozen. On Tuesday, European affairs ministers failed again to reach any consensus on the cases of Albania and North Macedonia. He said he hopes EU leaders can break the deadlock at this week’s summit “in order to restore our credibility.”ADBut their chances appeared slim.

Source: Washington Post October 17, 2019 18:58 UTC