European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed on Tuesday in the European Parliament that she will recommend opening negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Today we will recommend to the Council to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina,” von der Leyen said in a speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The announcement was followed by applause from the members of parliament.

In the afternoon, a session of the European Commission will be held at which a decision on the recommendation to open negotiations will be made. That recommendation will be decided on next Tuesday by the General Affairs Council, composed of the foreign or European affairs ministers of the member states, and then by the leaders of the member states who will gather at the summit on March 21 and 22.

Von der Leyen said that BiH, since receiving candidate status in December 2022, has made “impressive steps” in European integration.

“More progress has been made in a little over a year than previously in ten years. First, BiH is now fully aligned with our foreign and security policy, which is crucial in these times of geopolitical turmoil. Second, the country has adopted important laws such as the law on preventing conflicts of interest, which had been stalled for seven years, as well as the law on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing,” von der Leyen said.

She also stated that BiH has improved the management of migrant flows and that it is now possible to begin negotiations with Frontex after the Presidency approved the negotiating mandate. As a fourth element, the BiH Ministry of Justice decided to include the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in domestic criminal records. She also highlighted the new steering board for peacebuilding, which recently became operational.

“Of course, greater progress is needed for accession to our Union, but the country is showing that it can meet the membership criteria and the aspirations of its citizens to be part of our family. The message from BiH is clear, therefore our message must also be clear – the future of BiH is in the European Union,” said the President of the Commission.

Von der Leyen emphasized that in recent years the EU has changed its approach toward the Western Balkans.

“We realized that it is not enough to wait for the Western Balkans to move closer to us, that it is not enough to say that the door is open. We must also take responsibility and support their path toward our Union in every possible way,” said the President of the Commission.

Source: fenix-magazin.de