Bosnia and Herzegovina took a major step closer to joining the European Union after the bloc’s European Affairs ministers agreed to recommend the country be granted candidate member status.
The decision, taken at a Brussels meeting on Tuesday, is expected to be endorsed by the leaders of member states at a summit on Thursday.
It’s already been welcomed by the union’s enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi. In a tweet, he declared ‘the EU path is open.’
Bosnia-Herzegovina joins Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro among the Balkans nations to have won official candidacy. Kosovo is working towards the same goal.
But it can take many years for full membership to be granted. With its complex internal structures and multi-ethnic composition Bosnia-Herzegovina has a lot of work to do to achieve the reforms required by Brussels to become a member of the club.
