EU enlargement nears its moment of truth, and Iceland votes until 29 August

Montenegro and Albania are nearing membership, Ukraine and Moldova are taking their first definitive steps out of Moscow's orbit, and EU officials say more negotiating chapters have closed in the last six months than in the whole of the preceding decade. Iceland is meanwhile holding a referendum, with voting open until 29 August, on resuming its accession talks. The question now forcing itself on Brussels is geographical balance: Serbia's bid divides member states, and calls to keep the balance could tie Ukraine's progress to Belgrade's.

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