EU Commission nominee hopes Britain would stay, open to Balkans

The nominee for the European Union's next chief executive said on Wednesday she hoped Britain would not quit the bloc and also urged EU governments to keep open a membership path for the Western Balkans.

"I still hope you will remain," Ursula von der Leyen, who hopes to be confirmed as president of the European Commission, told a hearing in the European Parliament ahead of a vote on her nomination next week.

But she also said: "The UK must sort its side of things on Brexit," in reference to what EU governments say is a lack of clarity from London on what kind of future relationship it wants with the EU.

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