The European Commission is expected to recommend Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to start accession negotiations with the EU on Tuesday, opening the pathway for it to potentially become a member of the bloc, reports Politico from Brussels.
The EU granted BiH candidate status in December 2022. Now, the European Commission is set to give a positive recommendation for the commencement of formal accession negotiations, according to two EU officials and a diplomat speaking to the magazine.
It is up to the EU countries to discuss these recommendations, and EU diplomats and officials caution that an agreement among the 27 countries, necessary for the official start of negotiations, is unlikely before the European elections in June.
For some EU countries, including Austria, it has been crucial that progress in Ukraine and Moldova goes hand in hand with progress in BiH’s future accession.
The next step is for EU leaders to discuss the recommendation for BiH at a meeting in Brussels next week.
The European Commission was also expected to present a document on how to internally prepare the EU for future enlargement, particularly for a country with a population over 40 million, such as Ukraine.
Initially planned for February 27, this document has now been postponed to March 20, as shown in the latest European Commission agenda that Politico had access to.
Source: RTRS
