Almost seven years after submitting a formal EU membership application, Bosnia and Herzegovina has finally received the unanimous support of the 27 EU leaders to join the bloc. But now the Western Balkan country of 3.3 million people must deliver reforms.
After years of standstill, Russia's war on Ukraine has breathed fresh life into the European Union's willingness to consider welcoming more of its eastern neighbors to its ranks.
The member states agreed on December 15 to formally grant Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status to join the union, putting the volatile Balkan nation at the start of a long road to membership.
A recommendation to this effect was made by the European Affairs ministers of the EU states in Brussels on Tuesday, prompted in part by concerns that the country of around 3.3 million people could otherwise increasingly orient itself towards Russia or China.
In the wake of the decisions to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova in June, EU member states such as Austria and Slovenia in particular had urged the bloc to also grant candidate status to Bosnia.
The fact that Bosnia had once again been ignored in this process caused great disappointment in the country. It had been offered the prospect of EU accession as early as 2003, and in 2016 officially submitted an application for membership.
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi said that this week's decision sent a very clear message to the citizens of Bosnia that the EU stands by the country.
He added that it was now necessary for Bosnia to show its readiness to fulfil the conditions set earlier, noting that "Europe delivers and now we want to see Bosnia and Herzegovina deliver as well."
The conditions mentioned by Várhelyi are 14 key reforms that the European Commission presented Bosnia with in May 2019. They concern reforms in several areas, including democracy, the rule of law and public administration.
Political commentators in Bosnia believe that the EU should have granted it candidate status at the same time as the majority of other countries in the Western Balkans. This could have helped to facilitate the resolution of numerous internal problems in the country.
For example, the government of the country's Republika Srpska entity maintains close economic and political ties with Moscow, and the lack of candidate status for EU membership only encouraged the growth of Russian influence.
EU CANDIDATE STATUS FOR BOSNIA BENEFITS BOTH SIDES
Ahead of the vote at an EU summit on December 15, Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said the decision was "mutually beneficial to both the Western Balkans and the European Union as a whole."
"The European Union has a geopolitical interest in the Balkans," he added.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on the sidelines of the summit that the vote gave the Bosnian leadership a "good occasion" to push for reforms.
"This is the occasion for the country to really embark on the European path. It's a very important step for Bosnia Herzegovina and for the whole region," he noted.
Due to an ongoing political crisis in Bosnia, little has been done so far to implement the set conditions. All public opinion surveys show that EU membership is one of the rare goals strongly supported by all three nationalities and throughout Bosnia.
All the parliamentary parties participating in efforts to form a new government following October elections have put the continuation of Bosnia's European path high on their list of priorities, regardless of the fact that no one knows how long the journey will take.
SLOVENIA ADVOCATES WESTERN BALKANS ENLARGEMENT
Slovenia in particular has put a lot of effort into explaining to its partners why, given the geopolitical situation, Bosnia should receive candidate status.
The decision to grant Bosnia EU candidate status was described in Ljubljana as "a great success of Slovenian foreign policy." At the same time, Ljubljana stresses that Slovenia is committed to bringing the entire Western Balkans into the EU as soon as possible.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said at the time of the ministerial decision on December 13 that Bosnia had been waiting 20 years for this moment. In the EU, he said, trust needs to be built towards the people of Bosnia.
Slovenian top officials have put advocacy for Bosnia high on their foreign policy agenda, with President Borut Pahor warning that the process of EU enlargement to the Western Balkan countries is too slow.
Candidate status is also a clear signal to the political establishment in Bosnia, which now has a full mandate to carry out as many reforms as possible and to show voters that it shares their vision of the country's future in the EU.
"There were many doubts about this from member states as well as the European Commission, but I think that in the end we were able to prove with arguments that Bosnia and Herzegovina has made significant progress over time," said Foreign Ministry State Secretary Marko Štucin.
Faris Kočan, a researcher at the Ljubljana School of Business and Economics, believes that Slovenia played an important role in the decision, arguing that due to its history, the country represents a bridge between the EU and the Western Balkans, along with Croatia and Austria.
"In this context, it was important that Slovenia, together with its partners – Austria in particular, but also Croatia – put Bosnia high on the EU agenda," he added.
The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, dpa, FENA and STA as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project.
