Von der Leyen: The EC To Recommend Opening EU membership Talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ursula von der Leyen (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen has said that the EC will recommend opening accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has made impressive achievements. 

Speaking at a plenary session of the European Parliament, Von der Leyen that the EC would present a progress report detailing how Bosnia had met those terms.  “Since we granted candidate status, Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken impressive steps towards us. More progress has been achieved in just over a year than in over a decade,” Von der Leyen said. 

She also said that Bosnia and Herzegovina was now fully aligned with the EU foreign and security policy, adding that the country had been adopting important laws, such as the Law on preventing the conflict of interest, which had been passed after a seven-year stall, and the Law on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

“Thirdly, management of migration routes continues to improve and talks with Frontex are now ready to start after the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency has approved the negotiating framework,” the EC chief said.

“Of course, more progress is necessary to join our Union. But the country is showing that it can deliver on the membership criteria, and on its citizens’ aspiration to be part of our family,” Von der Leyen noted. She stressed that “the message coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina is clear. So our message must be clear too.”  

The EC chief also said that the EU had realized that it was not enough to just wait for the Western Balkans to move closer to the EU and to say that the door was open. “We must also take responsibility and support their path towards our union in any possible way,” Vone der Leyen noted.