Change font size:
TIRANA, May 17 – No Western Balkan country, including frontrunners Montenegro and Serbia, will be able to meet EU accession criteria before 2030, according to a study by the Vienna Institute for International Studies. The study published ahead of this week’s EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia shows that bridging the governance gap between Western Balkan countries and EU members within 8 years by 2025 as the European Commission targets is unrealistic and specific countries such as ethnically divided Bosnia and Herzegovina could need up to 23 years to reach the level of governance required to join the EU. “The new…