As of: March 12, 2024, 6:53 p.m
By: Sonja Ruf
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Press
Split
The EU Commission recommends accession talks with Bosnia-Herzegovina: surprising for some observers, but also a sign towards Moscow.
Sarajevo - Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country with a difficult past and present, but it could now be one step closer to joining the EU.
On March 12, 2024, the European Commission recommended that the member states of the European Union start accession talks with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The country applied for membership in 2016 and had candidate status since 2022.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen literally emphasized on March 12th: “In just over a year, greater progress has been achieved than in over ten years.” The country in the Eastern Balkans shows “that it can meet the accession criteria and supports the aspirations of its citizens to become part of our family.” Concrete reforms have been made in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
In addition, measures are being taken to serve the further reconciliation of the different ethnic groups and its foreign and security policy has almost completely aligned itself with the EU.
EU Commission President: Bosnia has “made greater progress than in over ten years”
A unanimous decision by the member states is necessary for the eventual start of accession negotiations.
An opportunity for this would arise at the planned EU summit next week.
Bosnia-Herzegovina would still have to prepare for a long road ahead.
The negotiations often take years and their start is often not the only indication of a successful conclusion (see Turkey).
Candidates for accession must prove that they have implemented all of the EU's legal provisions.
Bosnia-Herzegovina itself has a prominent opponent of this decision in its own country.
Milorad Dodik has been President of the Republic of Srpska, one of two republics that make up the central state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, since 2022.
This is predominantly inhabited by Bosnian Serbs.
In the past, Dodik has often attracted attention because of his proximity to Russia.
In February of this year, Dodik traveled to Kazan, Russia, on February 22, a few days before the two-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to give an interview to a Russian news agency (see picture).
Nevertheless, Dodik has not missed an opportunity to date to threaten the separation of his entity from the rest of the country and to publicly reject Bosnia's NATO membership.
In addition to election fraud allegations against him, Dodik has in the past threatened Christian Schmitt, the EU's high representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with his "arrest."
Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, a few days before the two-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during an interview for a Russian news agency.
© Imago/Itar-Tass
EU membership candidate Bosnia-Herzegovina: The “most complicated political system in Europe”
Officially, Bosnia-Herzegovina has been an independent state since 1991, but the bloody Bosnian War began immediately afterwards until 1995.
During the Bosnian War, different ethnic groups (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian) fought over the distribution of national territory, which resulted in countless violent crimes and ultimately the Srebrenica massacre.
The state of Bosnia-Herzegovina and its constitution are still based on the Dayton Agreement, which was concluded with the help of the USA and ended the war.
The agreement ensured the preservation of the entire state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but also its division into two entities: the Republic of Srpska, the so-called Serb Republic, and the predominantly Croat-Muslim Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Due to the entities' high degree of political autonomy, critics in the past have described the central government of Bosnia-Herzegovina as weak and the country's political system, with its 14 parliaments and 136 ministers, as the “most complex in Europe”.
The opening of EU accession talks with Bosnia-Herzegovina: an important gesture towards Moscow
By opening accession talks, Bosnia would join its neighbors such as Ukraine and Moldova, all of which are at various stages of their EU membership candidacy.
Accession would be a great benefit for Bosnia-Herzegovina itself.
Some observers stated that the recommendation came as a surprise to them.
The latest EU enlargement report noted only limited progress in terms of political reforms in the country.
Should the decision to begin accession negotiations be made next week, it would still be a big sign and an important symbolic gesture towards Milorad Dodik and Moscow before the European elections in June.