European foreign ministers yesterday strongly backed Western Balkan nations as future EU members, though doubt remained among European Union hopefuls such as Serbia.
"The Balkans are a part of Europe and therefore they have to be a part of the EU too," said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
The chances of that happening were dimmed recently when German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a pause in enlargement, once Croatia joins up in the next few years.
However the EU ministers, meeting for the second of two days of talks at a castle in the southern Czech Republic, sought to downplay fears that the current economic crisis was dampening enthusiasm for taking the six relatively poor neighbours into the European club.
"There are two risks to avoid," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana after the talks broke up.
"One is the risk of economic protectionism... and the other is the risk of political protectionism, what we call nationalism."
The EU ministers also held talks with counterparts from the six Balkan hopefuls: Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
However, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic was clear that in the current climate it would inevitably be more difficult to join the club.
"Everything is getting harder and harder, look at the economic data... and why would the accession process be any different - we understand that," he told reporters as he arrived for the talks.
An EU presidency statement issued after the meeting said simply: "Participants confirmed the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
"The participants agreed that the economic downturn in Europe calls for even closer co-operation between the EU, International Financial Institutions and the Western Balkan countries," the statement added.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt also spoke out strongly against shutting out prospective candidates.
"If we were to slam the door in their face, not that I say that that will happen, it will have devastating consequences for the region," he warned.
"I think we have got to make the argument that the EU should learn from its history and its history is that wider makes stronger," echoed his British counterpart David Miliband.
There were also fears that ratification of the EU's reforming Lisbon Treaty, designed to facilitate further expansion in a bloc which has already grown from 15 to 27 members since 2004, could be delayed.
The Czechs are one of the few nations still to ratify the treaty which must be passed by all EU members before it can come into force.
But the Czech government was toppled in a no-confidence vote this week and it is unclear how long the administration of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek will continue in power.
Still, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb suggested enlargement could continue even without the treaty in place.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was more sceptical.
"We hope the Lisbon Treaty will be accepted before the end of the year, if not there will be no possibility" of enlargement, he said.
In practice many of the EU hopefuls are already in a kind of euro limbo, due to opposition from one or more member state.