BRUSSELS (Brussels Morning) – 27 EU leaders gave the political green light at a summit to start membership negotiation with Bosnia-Herzegovina but the country will need to undergo reforms.
European Union leaders agreed on Thursday at a summit to open membership negotiation talks with Bosnia – Herzegovina on joining the bloc. Though, the Balkan country would have to do a lot of improvement before discussion could begin.
“The European Council has just decided to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Charles Michel, the president of the council, wrote on X.
“Congratulations!” he remarked. “Your place is in our European family.”
Michel stated that a substantial amount of work needs to be done before the country can become a member of the EU bloc.
Now the hard work needs to continue so Bosnia and Herzegovina steadily advances, as your people want,” he added.
Bosnia Status
After years of stagnant hard work, in 2022 Bosnia was awarded EU candidate status in spite of worries about internal strife and political instability of the country. To be a part of the EU bloc Bosnia country would have to meet their standards and undertake reforms such as political, economic and social changes. Along with this, corruption and money laundering challenges should also be addressed.
Dutch and Lithuania Prime Minister’s Statements
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also emphasized that further improvements are needed for Bosnia to join the bloc. He said at the summit in Brussels “It’s crucial that Bosnia will fulfill all the necessary actions in the Commission’s report so that you really will have ticked all the boxes”.
Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania said he encourages adding Bosnia in the EU nations list but with reforms. He said “We have to respect the rules, rules of game, implementation of all necessary requirements”.
Ethnically Collapsed
Bosnia is still in a state of collapse due to ethnic disunion even after decades since the 1992-1995 war, which destroyed the country and resulted in 100,000 casualties and millions displaced.
Recent reports by U.S. intelligence claim that Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader and president of Republika Srpska, who is pro-Russian, is continuously attempting to damage and undermine the political stability of the country. His intention is to weaken the country until it completely falls apart.
Olaf Scholz Remarks
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that he was “very much for” moving a step forward “after the many efforts that have been made in Bosnia-Herzegovina.”
Further, he said ““As a whole, the states of the Western Balkans also must be able to rely on us”. The promise that they would be able to become members of the European Union was made … more than 20 years ago in Thessaloniki, and now we need the next steps.”
Balkan States
Among the six states from the Balkan which are in the various stages of EU membership process, Bosnia – Herzegovina is one of them and others are Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
As a result of affirmative response, EU flags have been hanging in Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo, where citizens admire this decision and believe it can now become a normal state, as desired by its citizens.
