"Balkan states have already started to suffer from the moves of the Ukrainian side, " he said.

CNN: Gazprom accuses Ukraine of siphoning gas

Moreover, Kosovar independence would likely spur irredentist movements among the Muslim minorities in all Balkan states.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Islam and the nation-state

The overwhelming flow of refugees into the Balkan states prompted Macedonia to close its border with Yugoslavia on Wednesday.

CNN: Annan defends U.N. refugee aid, says agency 'overwhelmed'

Apart from Croatia and, eventually, a few Balkan states, EU enlargement has more or less ground to a halt.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

With the euro in crisis and the EU under extraordinary stress, some might wonder why the western Balkan states are so keen to join.

ECONOMIST: The Balkans and Europe

And the timetable for expansion appears to have slipped, even as the prospect of EU membership for the Balkan states was being raised by politicians as a way of aiding stabilisation, security, democratisation and economic rehabilitation of the region.

BBC: Europe: The issues