BRUSSELS – European Union (EU) leaders yesterday agreed to consider making Bosnia a candidate to join, EU chief Charles Michel said, after Ukraine and Moldova moved ahead in their push for membership.
Bosnia lodged its formal bid to enter in 2016 but has been stuck at the level of “potential candidate” after failing to make progress on a raft of reforms requested by Brussels.
Michel said that the EU’s executive arm would now draw up a report into whether Bosnia was nearer to fulfilling the conditions.
“We said we were ready to decide on the status of candidate by taking into account the conclusions of this report,” Michel said at a summit of EU leaders.
Several EU members backing Bosnia’s bid argued for candidate status to be granted in the light of the decision to open the door to Ukraine and Moldova.
But there is deep scepticism among other members as to the advances the Balkan country is making as it grapples with a political crisis that has stirred fears it could break up. – AFP, June 24, 2022
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