BELGRADE, Serbia - The European Union’s proposed new system for adding members is meant to reinstate the bloc’s influence in the Western Balkans, the bloc’s enlargement commissioner said Thursday. EU commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi, who started his tour of the region in Serbia, said he wants to “reinforce” the EU’s leverage. “With the new commission, EU enlargement policy and involvement with the Western Balkans is ever a greater priority,“ Varhelyi said. His visit comes a day after the European Commission proposed to streamline rules to avoid further delays in the membership applications of potential EU aspirants. The EU is pushing changes to the system it uses to add new members in a move that should make the opening of enlargement talks easier for the Balkan nations.

Source: thestar February 06, 2020 15:22 UTC