In the midst of Russia against Ukraine, it is a question of anchoring Western Balkans, where only Serbia, in candidate since 2012, retains important links with Moscow.
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It has been almost twenty years since Bosnia and Herzegovina was waiting for this dubbing. The country, which experienced a conflict from 1992 to 1995 killing more than 100,000 people, is about to become a candidate for the accession to the European Union (EU). The Commission officially proposed to the twenty-seven member states to grant it this status, which could open, in the long term, the doors of the EU. “It is a strong message to citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that we had hoped before. Our future is within the European family,” reacted on Twitter Bisera Turkovic, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In June, the Council had given the green light to this procedure, recalling that the Bosnian public authorities had, to obtain this status, to engage in fourteen key measures in favor of democracy and the rule of law. At the beginning of June, the Council already awarded to Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidate for the EU, before, a few weeks later, to propose this status to Albania and Macedonia of the North.
This activism in the region is eminently political and geostrategic on the part of the EU. In the midst of Russia’s war against Ukraine, it is a question of anchoring the Western Balkans, where only Serbia, in candidate since 2012, retains important links with Moscow. “The brutal invasion of Ukraine highlights the importance of the enlargement of the EU, which takes a new geopolitical meaning. It is a long -term investment in the peace, prosperity and the stability of our continent, “said Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy.
This echoes the declaration of Christian Schmidt, the high representative of the United Nations for Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Sarajevo. “The unanimous message of Brussels is particularly important at this time when international law is flouted and when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of independent states questioned and raped,” he said in a statement relayed by the ‘France Media Agency. According to the Sarajevo Times, Zeljko Komsic, the Croatian member of the presidential college (tricephalus), also praised this positive announcement.
necessary reforms
If this political recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina is strong, it remains to measure its effects. The federal state organizing three communities – Serbian, Croatian and Muslim – is subject to tensions as strong as it is regular. The October 2 elections did not really make it possible to appease the situation. And some compensation are still in progress. The new institutions from these votes do not work yet.
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