As tensions grow between Serbia and Kosovo, Russia must not be left to advance its divisive agenda in the region
In early December, European Union officials headed to Albania to make a symbolic point. The latest EU-Western Balkans summit, held in Tirana, was the first to be actually held in a region whose populations mostly long to belong to the Brussels club, but have begun to doubt they ever will.
The gesture ā along with concrete measures such as inclusion in the EUās Erasmus programme ā went down well. āThings are changing,ā Albaniaās prime minister, Edi Rama, observed at the summitās conclusion, as other leaders hailed āa new mindsetā. A couple of weeks later, Bosnia and Herzegovina was granted the status of candidate country to join the EU.