An EU decision to start entry talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina was a historic moment for the country amid the Ukraine war and a shifting geopolitical landscape. But the nation still has a long way to go.
EU leaders agreed last week to open membership talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina although negotiations will not begin until the Balkan country has passed more key reforms.
"Now the hard work needs to continue," European Council President Charles Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter, congratulating Bosnia.
MORE REFORMS EXPECTED
Bosnia has been an official candidate for EU membership since 2022, but had to implement a number of reforms before it was given the green light to start talks.
EU leaders decided the Balkan country had completed some of the steps required, but said further progress on judicial and electoral reforms was necessary.
Russia's war on Ukraine has reinvigorated the bloc's drive to admit new members. Last December the EU decided to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova.
The move to expand is part of an effort to push back against Russian and Chinese influence in the EU's backyard.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Bosnia was now "fully aligned" with the EU's foreign and security policy, managed migration better and adopted laws to combat both money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
She welcomed Bosnia's agreement to include the judgements of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in national criminal records.
Von der Leyen noted further steps towards dialogue and reconciliation in the aftermath of the country's 1992-1995 war, with the creation of a new peace-building committee.
Starting negotiations is only the beginning of a long process of further painstaking reforms that usually last for many years before a country finally joins the EU.
Risks remain. The president of the Serb-majority entity Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has held enormous sway over the Serb entity in Bosnia for years. Viewed as close to Russia, he has frequently stoked ethnic tensions and jeopardized the country's EU path.
Bosnia's regional neighbours, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania, are already ahead in their efforts to join the EU, but all remain a long way from membership.
BARRIERS TO MEMBERSHIP
The decision to open accession negotiations was met with strong opposition from the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Estonia, which argued that Bosnia's progress was still limited.
The Dutch parliament debated blocking the start of accession talks, but didn't tie Prime Minister Mark Rutte's hands in the end. Rutte warned that a veto would cause "enormous damage" to the Netherlands and convinced a majority to opt for a more lenient resolution.
The parliament asked Rutte to block agreement on the negotiation framework, a procedural step before the real talks can start, until Bosnia has met the eight additional requirements set by the European Commission late last year. Thus, he was able to agree on the symbolic green light for entry negotiations.
On the other hand, supporters of the Balkans, like Austria, Croatia, Italy, Hungary and Slovenia, have accelerated Sarajevo's progress in the entry process.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob described the decision as an encouraging message to the whole Western Balkans region, contributing to its stability and development.
CALLS FOR ENTRY TIMETABLE FOR UKRAINE AND MOLDOVA
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called for a predictable entry timetable for Ukraine and Moldova, for the rapid adoption of the negotiation frameworks from the commission and for organising the first intergovernmental conferences with the two candidate countries.
The outgoing Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa was among those who took a more cautious approach.
Although he did not oppose EU membership, for Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans, he said on many occasions that the EU cannot speed up the process and decide on the basis of emotions - specifically referring to Ukraine.
CROATIA STRONGLY BACKS BOSNIA'S ENTRY
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said Bosnia has an incentive to continue reforms and change election laws that lead to the outvoting of Croats.
"This decision [...] is a brilliant incentive for further reforms and catching up so Bosnia can enter the convoy which Ukraine and Moldova joined a little earlier", Plenković said to Mostar-based Herceg-Bosna Radio-Television.
Bosnia has an electoral system based on three constituent ethnicities. Bosniak political parties advocate that the ethnic principle be abandoned in the electoral process.
The Croats, who are three times less numerous than the Bosniaks in Bosnia, are afraid of being outvoted, which has already happened four times in the election of members of the collective presidency.
MOMENTUM GROWING EU MEMBERSHIP IN WESTERN BALKANS
The EU's Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák said momentum was growing in Brussels to admit new member states.
"The atmosphere in Brussels and the member states has really changed. The members are now seriously interested in enlargement. The doors are opening," he said.
The United States Special Representative to the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar pushed hard recently for North Macedonia to make progress in EU entry talks.
"North Macedonia has been a very solid partner, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora such as NATO and the OSCE," he posted on X.
He added that the US administration expected the new incoming government in North Macedonia to be committed to NATO, EU accession and the fight against corruption.
The content of this article is based on reporting by Agerpres, AFP, ANP, ANSA, EFE, FENA, MIA, Lusa, HINA, STA, TASR, Tanjug as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project.
