Balkan membership in the EU, Michel: Block Enlargement Vital

The European Union should expand or risk facing a new “iron belt” along its eastern wing, European Council President Charles Michel said on Monday.

“Enlargement is vital for the future of the EU because without enlargement there is a danger for a new iron curtain,” said Michel in an interview with a select group of journalists.

“would be extremely dangerous if you had an unstable neighbourhood with a lack of prosperity or lack of economic development. These are our common interests of candidate countries and the EU to make progress, accelerate,”, he added.

Nine countries from Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans are currently waiting to become full EU members. The process of membership in the bloc is extremely long and complex, with candidate countries being asked to meet the EU's tough requirements, including important judicial and constitutional reforms.

While Ukraine's unprohibited invasion of Russia has injected a new impetus to the sleeping policy of EU enlargement, efforts to speed up the membership process risk being hampered by more sceptical member states, Euronews writes.