In an interview to Financial Times European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker warned US President Donald Trump to refrained from urging more EU member-states to leave the EU. In particular, Mr. Juncker said that if countries like Albania, FYROM and Bosnia-Herzegovina were prevented from joining the union, this could lead to a Balkan war while outlining the role of the EU as a cohesive force for promoting peace and stability in the region after the end of the civil conflict in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990’s. He underlined that the contribution of the EU was valuable, as it offered a prospect for the Balkan states. Mr. Juncker said he had sent the message to the US President via Vice-President Mike Pence during the latter’s visit to Brussels in February. “I told him [Pence] to not encourage more countries to leave, because if the EU collapsed, there would be a new war in the western Balkans”, Mr. Juncker said.