The leaders of the member states of the European Union (EU) will gather today and tomorrow at the regular spring meeting where, among other things, they will make a decision on the eventual opening of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. In anticipation of the decision, the ‘green light’, from Brussels for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the center of Sarajevo is decorated with EU flags.
Last week, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, assessed that Bosnia and Herzegovina, since receiving candidate status, has made “impressive steps” in European integration.
The leaders of the states and governments of the member states of the European Union, who are starting a two-day session in Brussels today, will decide whether they will give Bosnia and Herzegovina the green light to start negotiations on accession to the Union.
On March 12 of this year, the European Commission formally recommended the opening of accession negotiations between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, assessed that our country has made more progress since it received candidate status than in the past ten years.
As a reminder, we received the status of a candidate for full membership in the EU in December 2022.
Politico magazine cited a draft document from March 19 that it had access to, according to which European leaders are ready to give the green light for the opening of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The text also states the conditions for accession negotiations, adding that the next part of the process can only take place “when the relevant steps specified in the Commission’s recommendation are taken”, which implies more concrete progress by Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“All the reforms we agreed upon really need to be completed before any next step for Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place,” the unnamed diplomat said, reports Politico.
Before the start of the summit, seven European countries called on their colleagues to follow the recommendations of the European Commission on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia stated that the bloc should “take advantage of the momentum and the current opportunity”, said the source.
Bosnia and Herzegovina officials are optimistic and expect good news from Brussels. However, the final decision on this will be made by the EU Council, that is, the leaders of the states and governments of the member countries.
Apart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the topics of the summit in Brussels will be Ukraine, security and defense and the situation in the Middle East.
The green light was given by the German Bundestag, as well as by the Dutch Parliament, which adopted the text of the Resolution, leaving the possibility for Prime Minister Mark Rutte to vote tomorrow in Brussels for the decision to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. BiH leaders who met with European Union Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhely in Brussels are also optimistic.
The focus of the meeting of domestic officials with the European Commissioner for Enlargement is the decision to open accession negotiations. Sabina Ćudić says that there are several draft conclusions related to whether the opening of negotiations will be subject to additional conditions. What is clear is that member states will insist on the Court Law.
SABINA ĆUDIĆ, Member of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina
“We asked from this meeting not only information, but also the next steps that, after the opening, Bosnia and Herzegovina must take in order to unlock access to seven percent of the total funds of the Growth Plan tomorrow, we are talking about over 100 million euros for Bosnia and Herzegovina, that as soon as we start the screening process, the negotiation process. We could do it in June this year at the earliest.”
EDIN FORTO, Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina
“Regardless of all the strides we have made so far, we have one more step left, either before the opening of negotiations or after the green light, and that is to adopt the Law on the Court.”
By adopting the resolution, the Bundestag gave the “green light” for the opening of negotiations and took an extremely important strategic position on numerous issues of importance for Bosnia and Herzegovina, announced the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Germany, Damir Arnaut. The German chancellor is also in favor of BiH’s membership in the Union.
OLAF SCHOLZ, German Chancellor
“I am proud that we have developed a new pace in the process of bringing the countries of the Western Balkans closer to the European Union. This process is taking a “very long time” because these countries were promised membership more than 20 years ago. Now the European Commission has proposed opening negotiations for Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a clear signal that the EU is adapting to the new situation. Europe’s peace project will be strong in a changing world.”
Some countries were skeptical about how they would vote at tomorrow’s meeting. One of them was the Netherlands. In the end, the Parliament of the Netherlands adopted the text of the Resolution, which leaves the possibility for Prime Minister Mark Rutte to vote tomorrow in Brussels for the decision to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, confirmed the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Netherlands.
ALMIR ŠAHOVIĆ, ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Netherlands
“There was a heated debate for two days and the parliament was quite divided. In the end, the opinion prevailed to support and follow the recommendation of the European Commission.”
Some European countries have already been of the opinion that it is necessary to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. This opinion is also represented by Italy.
GIORGIA MELONI, Prime Minister of Italy
“We are ready to support the recommendations contained in the relevant report of the European Commission, for the opening of accession negotiations for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is a decision that can lead to further and decisive progress of Sarajevo on the path of reforms towards the European Union. We have seen how granting the status of a candidate country to Bosnia and Herzegovina Herzegovina in December 2022 led to the fact that in a little more than a year this country will implement a greater number of reforms than were done in the previous 10 years.”
European leaders are ready to give the “green light” for the opening of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the draft document dated March 19, which Politico magazine had access to. Some European diplomats are optimistic that the leaders of the European Union will decide to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina tomorrow at the summit in Brussels.
