Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Balkan Union: Make the Balkans Great Again?" video.

Russia see it as an attempt to further its own goals thanks to Serbia, the EU on the other hand wants a more stable and developed region, it's very likely the EU would win out with those countries because the EU has far more to offer those countries than Russia has and that is only going to get worse for Russia as they go into decline. Also, threatening and scaring countries doesn't help Russia case, in fact, Russia is playing into the hands of the EU because more countries want to join the EU and it looks like the EU is more open to enlargement.
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With Russian aggression in Ukraine, the EU is speeding up the process of allowing countries to join the EU but there is a problem and that is mostly Hungary and to a lest degree, Poland. The EU isn't likely going to let any new country into the union until those two countries are sorted out on the backsliding on democracy and even then, there is also the factor that the EU will need treaty change, reforms are needed in areas of vetoes and majority voting because it's clear the EU can't go on like this when one member can hold the rest to ransom. That doesn't mean vetoes need to go away but it needs to be done better, maybe by a percentage of members need to be onboard to veto something and not just one like it is now and until those two problems are solved, the EU shouldn't let any new member in as it will only cause more problems down the line without those reforms being done. I think the EU needs to get treaty change over the next 3 years and I think Hungary really needs to be kicked out of the EU, to make room for more deserving countries like Ukraine and others. As for the Balkan idea, it doesn't sound like a bad idea because sooner or later these countries are going to have to resolve their differences between each other if they ever want to be part of the EU, there's nothing stopping them doing that whiles waiting for the EU to do the reforms needed, it would likely being those countries much closer to EU membership.
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@whitezombie10 It's not that simply, just look at Hungary and Poland, you can't bring countries in the EU until you're ready and it was a mistake the EU brought in Hungary and Poland with them backsliding but in the case of Poland, it looks like relations can improve with them whereas with Hungary, I think they are a lost cause that will in time be forced out of the EU one way or the other. Before the EU can even think about bringing in other countries, it needs to sort out Hungary and Poland, they are the main obstacle to EU enlargement now, the second thing that's needed is reforms of the EU with vetoes and majority voting, until these issues are solved, I don't think the EU should allow any country in. The EU reforms will need treaty change, I think that should happen over the next 3 years, as for the other problem, the problem with Poland might be solvable and in part because of what's going on in Ukraine, if the EU sorts Poland out, it will be a lot easier to sort Hungary out which I think the EU should kick Hungary out and that will probably happen in time.
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It would be great if they could resolve these issues and it would help their case on becoming an EU member because the EU wants countries that join to have good relations with nearby countries. These problems will have to be solved at some point if they want to become an EU member, so credit to them for trying to solve these problems ahead of time and I wish them luck and these problems can be solved, just look at the problems EU countries had with each other over the last 100 years, yet they managed to solved these issues with enough political will.
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