EU membership: Boost for Bosnia as Sarajevo given 'candidate status' to join the bloc
Brussels added Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to the list of official candidates to join the European Union on Thursday, ending a six-year wait since the small Balkan country filed its membership application to the 27-nation bloc.
Bosnia is now a part of the waiting room that includes Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Turkey, despite continuing criticism of the way it is run.
The approval came after European affairs ministers agreed unanimously earlier in the week to endorse a recommendation from the bloc's executive arm to grant Bosnia the status.
"Today, we confirm that the future of BiH lies in the EU," EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said in a Twitter post on Thursday.
"This is a decision for the people of BiH. Political leaders can now turn this ambition into reality through decisive reforms."
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February has served as an accelerator for the bloc's enlargement process.
EU leaders gave more concrete signs this month to six Western Balkan countries aspiring to join that they have a future within the union.
At a summit in Albania, the EU "reconfirmed its full and unequivocal commitment to the European Union membership perspective of the Western Balkans" and called for the acceleration of accession talks with the membership hopefuls.
Kosovo is now the last remaining Western Balkan potential candidate country.
Its leadership officially handed in their application to join the bloc on Thursday. However, five member states -- Romania, Cyprus, Spain, Greece and Slovakia -- still do not recognise its independence from neighbouring Serbia, an obstacle that will continue to stall the accession process for both Belgrade and Pristina until it is resolved.
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