The Kremlin has a hand in the current tensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The EU Commission is now sending a signal to Moscow and recommending accession status for the Balkan country, along with a compass for upcoming reforms.
After Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina can also hope for the status of an EU accession candidate. The European Commission recommended this to the member states in the afternoon. Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi spoke on Twitter of a “historic opportunity”. However, according to Varhelyi, the recommendation for Bosnia-Herzegovina is linked to a number of reform steps in the country. In its annual country report, the Commission lists 14 key areas in which progress must be made before formal accession negotiations can begin.
At their summit at the end of June, the EU heads of state and government had already granted candidate status to Ukraine and the neighboring Republic of Moldova as a signal to Moscow. At the same time, they instructed the Commission to examine the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
For years, Brussels has been insisting on reforms in the judiciary and administration in the country with more than three million inhabitants. The Balkan state had applied for admission to the European Union in 2016. The main problem is the lack of stability: For some time there have been attempts to secede from the Serb republic of Bosnia, the Republika Srpska. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of supporting these efforts. In this respect, candidate status would also send a signal to Putin.
The elections in the Serbian republic at the beginning of October were overshadowed by allegations of fraud. After a decision by the electoral commission on Monday, the count must now be repeated. After the first count, the Serbian nationalist hardliner and Putin friend Milorad Dodik declared himself the winner.
The 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement was the basis for the state structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, there are always tensions between Muslim Bosnians, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. On the part of the EU, all 27 member countries still have to agree to the candidate status. The topic is likely to be discussed at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg on Monday and at the next EU summit next week on Thursday and Friday.
Candidate status is just a first step on the long road to EU membership. It can take decades. Currently, seven countries are EU accession candidates. In addition to the newcomers Ukraine and Moldova, these are Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania.
