There is a silent nightmare taking place in the Balkans, with large-scale emigration plus by a low birth rate. Serbia and Albania have lost over half a million people since 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to lose half of its manpower by 2050 (more than during the 1990 wars), and Croatia losing more than one million citizens since 1990.

EU membership brings many benefits, ranging from democratisation, the rule of law, the protection of minorities and the freedom of speech. One thing the low-income countries currently in, or aiming to join, the EU had not anticipated was large-scale…