EU and Western Balkans seek to boost partnership amid Ukraine war

The venue the EU Western Balkans Summit, in Tirana (AP)

EU leaders and their Western Balkan counterparts have gathered for talks aimed at boosting their partnership as Russia’s war in Ukraine threatens to reshape the geopolitical balance in the region.

The EU wants to use the one-day summit in Tirana to tell leaders from Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia that they have futures within the wealthy economic bloc and to give them concrete signs, rather than just promises, that they will join one day.