Thread by @DaveKeating

It appears leaders weren't able to convince 🇧🇬#Bulgaria's PM Kiril Petkov (whose government just collapsed) to end his veto on starting 🇲🇰#NorthMacedonia's 🇪🇺 accession talks this morning

The Western Balkan applicants almost boycotted this morning's meeting over lack of progress

The rumour going around is that the Western Balkan leaders are very unhappy with how this morning’s mini-summit went. Several EU leaders didn’t even bother to show up.

The press conference by VDL, Michel & Macron has been cancelled, Weatern Balkan leaders about to hold their own

This would be a pretty bad result considering the main point of this morning’s Western Balkans leaders meeting was to smooth over anger about Ukraine & Moldova being given fast-track candidate status while W Balkans have had every conceivable roadblock thrown in front of them

For years, the Western Balkans have been told their eventual place in the EU is assured, a matter of destiny, but the process needs to be slower than the previous Eastern enlargement wave of the 00s.

Then suddenly Ukraine & Moldova have rapidly leapfrogged them.

A Balkan journalist here at the summit just wryly observed, "maybe we need to have another war for the EU to let us in".

🇲🇰🇷🇸🇦🇱 PMs holding furious press conference now after this morning’s failed mtg

🇲🇰PM: “Given circumstances at today’s #EUCO” he expressed his government and peoples’ “dissatisfaction with the accession process”

“It is time for 🇪🇺 to fulfill its promises before making new ones”

🇲🇰PM Kovačevski notes N Macedonia has been in 🇪🇺accession process for 18 years (🇺🇦 just got candidate status in 115 days)

"What's happened now is a serious blow to credibility of 🇪🇺 We're wasting precious time we dont have. 🇲🇰&🇦🇱, the region, we can’t be stuck in this situation"

🇦🇱PM Edi Rama after this morning’s disastrous W Balkans meeting: “I have deep sorrow for 🇪🇺. I feel sorry for them, and I hope we can help”

“It’s not simply Bulgaria, lets say the truth. The enlargement spirit has gone from a shared vision of a community to a kidnapping vehicle”

🇦🇱PM Rama says EU enlargement is now “crooked” and “Bulgaria is only the most stunning expression” of this crookedness, where decisions and analysis are based on politics rather than facts.

Wow. The Albanian PM is now condemning the Serbian President, standing at other side of this press conference, for supporting Russia.

“A country where Vladimir Putin’s popularity is 80%, where public opinion is not so keen to run to Brussels” Macedonian PM standing between them

The Serbian president is striking a much more conciliatory tone toward 🇪🇺: “More than 20 EU leaders were listening to us for 3-4 hours.”

“This is why we need Macron’s proposal for a new European Political Community to be accepted. That’s the only way for us to be heard”.

🇷🇸President Vučić also has conciliatory words for his 🇦🇱&🇲🇰 colleagues.

I don’t think he took 🇦🇱PM Rama’s words as a personal attack, but rather as a description of public opinion in #Serbia.

🇷🇸President Vučić ends with praise for his 🇦🇱&🇲🇰 counterparts for fighting valiantly during this morning's meeting, noting that if he the Serbian president says it, you know you can believe it.

"It was an important meeting, it was a good summit"

🇦🇱PM Rama jokes that he wonders what will be 🇭🇷Croatia’s reaction when Serbia comes close to joining 🇪🇺 [about registering the “Serbian language”].

“They may become our Bulgaria” jokes 🇷🇸PM Vučić.

BREAKING: After all that - it appears the Bulgarian Parliament has just now voted to accept the French compromise and lift the veto on starting North Macedonia’s accession talks.

Announcement by the 🇧🇬 prime minister expected imminently.