European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi confirmed that Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) could receive candidate status for European Union (EU) membership in the next month.
”Within the European Commission, we redoubled our efforts to put enlargement proposals on the table. This year we have already granted candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, and I believe that this year we will have another positive decision on BiH,” Varhelyi stated at a press conference in Barcelona, where the Forum of 43 Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean is being held.
Moreover, he asserted that with this decision they are giving new life to the expansion, but he pointed out that the expansion is a demanding process.
”Now it will be up to the candidate countries to fulfill their tasks first,” Varhelyi added.
The last country to become a member of the EU was Croatia in 2013.
The first part of the Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean, an organization created in 2008, is dedicated to issues of security of food and energy supplies under the influence of the conflict in Ukraine. The second part will be dedicated to security and migration in the EU neighborhood.