In the next few weeks, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Dutch Mark Rutte and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will arrive in Sarajevo to encourage the leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take additional steps with the aim of opening accession negotiations in March next year.
“Together with the President of the Commission and the Dutch Prime Minister, we will go to Sarajevo to support them in making those final efforts that remain until the decision to open negotiations,” Plenković said after the end of the EU summit.
On Thursday, the leaders of the member states decided to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, and tasked the Commission with making a new report on BiH’s progress in March, so that a decision on opening negotiations could then be made at the summit.
“We brought them to the front of the goal, now we need to make two more passes and score a goal, and after that negotiations will open, which is in the strategic interest of Croatia and all of us who have been working for years to make BiH catch up with other countries,” Plenković said.