European leaders are set to give the political green light to open EU accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to a draft document dated 19 March, POLITICO reports.
Bosnia was granted EU candidate status in December 2022. Last week, the European Commission gave a favourable recommendation to start formal accession talks, which EU leaders now plan to follow.
The text includes conditions for accession negotiations, saying the next part of the process can only happen “once the relevant steps set out in the Commission’s recommendation of 12 October 2022 have been taken”, meaning Bosnia must make more progress on its homework before it can enter the bloc.
EU ambassadors and EU leaders on Wednesday will discuss the current draft on Thursday. Several diplomats expressed optimism that the leaders would eventually accept the current wording on Bosnia.
One diplomat from a country initially more sceptical of Bosnia’s progress to date, who was granted anonymity to discuss the topic candidly, said the second part of the paragraph was key. This diplomat noted:
“All the reforms we’ve agreed really need to be completed before any next step can happen for Bosnia.”
Ahead of Thursday’s summit, seven European countries urged their counterparts to follow the European Commission’s recommendations on Bosnia. Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia said the bloc should “capitalise on the momentum and the current window of opportunity”.
