As EU hopes fade, Russia, China fill voids across Western Balkans

The EU’s waning ‘soft power’ in the region allows other countries to step in with loans and influence, analysts say.

With the prospect of Western Balkan nations joining the EU seen as a target moving further away, Russia and China will step up their efforts to fill voids in the region, analysts tell Al Jazeera.

Before the EU-Western Balkans summit last week, Slovenia, which currently chairs the EU presidency, urged the bloc to admit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania, by 2030.

The 27-member bloc rejected on Wednesday Ljubljana’s proposal for the six countries, all at different stages of the membership process, over migration concerns, but stressed the importance for the region ultimately joining the bloc.