Ian Bancroft
Ian Bancroft writes for the Guardian on the Balkans. He is the co-founder of TransConflict, an organization undertaking conflict transformation projects and research throughout the western part of this region.
Updated: 15 July 2009
Two years after Kosovo's declaration of independence, the Union is still unable to come up with a coherent policy for the western Balkans. This threatens not only to scupper Serbia’s accession to the EU, but also to destabilise the region itself. 
Croatia's prime minister resigned July 1 because his country's future accession to the EU had been called into question. In Macedonia too, the EU aspirant government is fragile. As the European dream recedes, the more Western Balkan states are destabilised, writes British researcher Ian Bancroft in the Guardian.