The European Council has decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, but not with Bosnia and Herzegovina, President of the European Council Charles Michel announced today after the meeting of the heads of government and states of the European Union.
The European Council granted candidate status to Georgia.
“The EU will open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina when the required level of compliance with membership criteria is achieved and calls on the Commission to submit a report by March with the aim of making such a decision,” Michel said after the meeting, N1 writes.
He assessed the decision as “a clear signal of hope for their people and for our continent”.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that negotiations on BiH’s accession to the EU can begin when a certain degree of necessary criteria is met.
“We believe that we can open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina when the necessary degree of fulfillment of membership criteria is achieved,” she said at the press conference after the summit with the leaders of the Balkan countries.
She said that for Serbia and Kosovo, “the way forward leads through the fulfillment of obligations under the auspices of the dialogue led by the EU”.
“An important step this year was the Ohrid Agreement,” said Von der Leyen.
She said the Commission wants to open accession negotiations on a fundamental cluster of issues as soon as possible with North Macedonia and Albania.
“When it comes to Montenegro, there is a new moment – a new government that needs to return to the path of admission to the EU,” Von der Leyen said.
