EU countries agree to give Bosnia formal candidate status

16 December 2022 12:31

The heads of state and government of the EU's 27 members agreed at a Brussels summit on December 15 to give Bosnia formal candidate status, as the country seeks to join the bloc.

The move comes as the EU tries to sustain the aspirations of several countries to one day join the bloc, albeit, during a period where it's been almost a decade since a new member joined and when nobody's accession appears imminent, DW informs.

Other EU candidates include Albania, Moldova, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Also on December 14, Kosovo formally submitted its application to become a candidate member.

Moldova's and Ukraine's candidacy were only confirmed last June, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The European Council's approval on Thursday effectively ratified a decision negotiated, agreed and announced by lower-level EU negotiators earlier in the week.

Why was Bosnia named a candidate?

The EU "reconfirmed its full and unequivocal commitment to the European Union membership perspective of the Western Balkans" at an Albania summit, calling for accession talks with the membership hopefuls to be accelerated.

Czech Europe Minister Mikulas Bek said on December 13 that by granting Bosnia candidate status, member states were "sending a strong message of its commitment to EU enlargement".

The Czech Republic currently holds the bloc's rotating presidency.

The EU's expansion process has been nearly frozen for years. The last country to be granted membership in the union was Croatia, which joined in 2013.

However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine gave the Union more reasons to reconsider alliances with eastern European countries.

EU officials have repeatedly emphasized lately that propping up the bloc's engagement with Western Balkans nations was vital to maintaining Europe's security.

Bosnia formally applied to join the block over six years ago. Only in October did the European Commission recommend granting the Balkans country candidate member status.