The signal from Brussels to the Western Balkans was clear: You still have a future in the EU. But the message coming in the other direction is increasingly blunt: We're not listening any more.

Alarmed by rising political tensions and Russia's growing role, EU leaders put the region on the agenda of a summit dinner on Thursday night. Beforehand, one leader after another voiced concern and declared the EU would redouble its efforts to stabilize a volatile corner of the Continent torn apart by war in the 1990s.

"Tensions and divisions have got out of hand, partly because of unhealthy external influences, which have been destabilizing several countries for some time," said European Council President Donald Tusk, in a barely coded reference to Moscow, which is accused of playing a role in an attempted coup in Montenegro and of stirring up political and ethnic tension in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

"The European Union remains ... fully committed to the stability and prosperity of the region. I want leaders to reconfirm the European perspective of the Western Balkans,” Tusk said.

Even Prime Minister Theresa May, who is about to lead Britain out of the EU, announced the U.K. would host a Western Balkans summit next year. "In light of the alleged Montenegro coup plot," she said, "I will call for us to do more to counter destabilizing Russian disinformation campaigns and raise the visibility of the Western commitment to this region."

The EU lost leverage over the region when Juncker declared in 2014 there would be no new members during his term.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the dinner that leaders had agreed to "strengthen the European perspective of these countries" — in other words, help Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to become EU members one day.

But when the leaders' official statement arrived after midnight, just one of its 17 paragraphs was devoted to the Western Balkans. Its 94 words contained nothing but bromides such as "the importance of continuing on the reform path, good neighbourly relations and inclusive regional cooperation initiatives."

Such words alone will have little impact. The EU lost leverage over the region when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker declared in 2014 there would be no new members during his term, which runs until 2019.

Loss of influence

The past couple of weeks have hammered home the declining clout of the West, which, in the years after the wars that broke up Yugoslavia, held great sway with any regional government aspiring to join the European mainstream.

The president of Macedonia has rejected calls from the EU, NATO and the U.S. to appoint a would-be prime minister who has formed a majority with ethnic Albanian parties. Even a visit by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to ram home the message made no difference.

Mogherini was subjected to boos and chants of "Serbia, Russia, we don't need the EU!" by ultra-nationalist MPs when she addressed the Serbian parliament last week.

While that episode was a striking breakdown of decorum, it was instigated by politicians who have long been deeply hostile to the West. More surprising is a recent move by ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo, a state which owes its very existence to Western military and diplomatic power, to defy NATO and the EU and press ahead with plans to establish an army despite opposition from the Serb minority.

Even after NATO issued a forceful statement telling Kosovo's leaders to drop the plan, President Hashim Thaçi published an opinion piece defending it. Domestic critics have accused Thaçi of using the plan to try to rally support for his political party.

Western Balkan governments have found other sponsors, such as China and Turkey and the Gulf states.

Kosovo's parliament this week also urged the government to suspend an EU-backed dialogue with Serbia, its wartime enemy. When Mogherini's spokeswoman issued a statement criticizing the vote, a politician close to Thaçi was first on Twitter to respond with an objection.

Despite such open disregard for the EU's views, Juncker defended his decision to rule out enlargement during his term.

"I don’t think that this was a mistake ... because as a matter of fact no candidate country is ready to join," he told reporters at the summit. Juncker said the EU remained open to enlargement when a candidate country fulfilled the criteria for membership.

But none of the Western Balkan countries will be ready to join the EU for years to come. And although the EU is the region's largest trading partner, Western Balkan governments have found other sponsors, such as China and Turkey and the Gulf states, willing to invest large amounts of money without raising concerns about their patchy record on political reforms or media freedom.