The EU must keep its promise to North Macedonia

ENLARGING THE European Union long ago fell out of fashion. No country has joined since Croatia became the 28th member, in 2013. As the leaders of Hungary and Poland attack the independence of their judiciaries it seems quaint to argue, as many once did, that negotiating membership would instil democratic habits in countries with long memories of dictatorship. How much harder to make the case in the Balkans: Kosovo and Serbia are at daggers drawn, and Bosnia is an ungovernable mess.But a happier story is unfolding in the country known, since February, as North Macedonia. After years of authoritarian misrule the new government, led by Zoran Zaev, has started tackling corruption and reforming the judiciary. In an unhappy region, the country’s Slavic majority and Albanian minority enjoy good relations. And last year Mr Zaev’s government signed the Prespa agreement with Greece, ending a destabilising dispute over the country’s name. (Greece insists that “Macedonia” can refer only to a Greek region, but has grudgingly accepted “North Macedonia”.)