Paris and Berlin pitch 'gradual integration' for EU hopefuls amid frustration in Western Balkans

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has laid out an ambitious vision for EU enlargement, saying that Ukraine belongs inside the 27-member union and that Europe could count as many as 30 members by the end of this decade.
58% : The idea would be to bring "candidate countries effectively closer to the EU through a more structured gradual integration, thus providing additional incentives for reforms," reads the paper circulated Thursday among EU diplomats.
36% : The Franco-German discussion paper coincides with growing frustration with the pace of EU membership talks, especially in the Western Balkans, where countries like North Macedonia have been waiting for more than 20 years to join the bloc.

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