The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday called for «unity of action» from the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to «take advantage of the wind of change» in the European Union’s Enlargement policy and move forward in integration with the bloc, after Brussels endorsed granting candidate status to the Balkan country.
In a speech from Sarajevo, in the framework of her tour of the Balkans, the leader of the Community Executive has pointed out that «times of rapid change» are being lived in Europe and has asked to take advantage of the new march in the integration policy, with the opening of the accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania and the recognition as candidate countries to Moldova and Ukraine.
«There is a new momentum, a wind of change, which brings the European family closer and now is the time for Bosnia to move forward as well,» he stressed, acknowledging that a year ago it would be «impossible» to think that Bosnia would be so close to achieving candidate status and insisting that if Bosnia finds «unity of action» there will be «nothing» to hold it back.
Just two weeks ago, the EU leader announced the proposal to grant candidate status to Bosnia, in a speech at the EU Ambassadors’ Conference. This candidacy is based «on the understanding that a number of steps will be taken», referring to reforms in the judiciary, fight against corruption and others that are pending.
In this way, Brussels follows the line marked by the leaders of the EU-27 who, at the June summit, pointed out the importance of unblocking the accession of the Balkans to the EU and agreed to give a clear signal of support to the region in the midst of the war in Ukraine. At that meeting, progress was made in opening negotiations on Albania and Macedonia, in addition to the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country whose European path is conditional on an agenda of 14 political and democratic reforms set by the European Commission in 2019.
Von der Leyen acknowledged in her speech that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has an important resonance in the Balkans and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina. «Putin has not only launched an assault on the basic international rules that have guaranteed peace in this country since 1995, it is also having a direct economic impact on all the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina,» she noted.
For this reason, he has argued that the best solution to meet this challenge is «even closer cooperation with the EU.» «This is in its immediate interest and will also bring it closer to our single market and membership in our Union,» he has expounded.
