Brussels recommends granting Bosnia the status of EU candidate, but with conditions
The European Commission has recommended that Bosnia and Herzegovina be granted the official status of candidate country to join the European Union, but under the condition of further reforms.
"Today we have proposed to grant candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the [Commission's] college decision," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
"We have recognised Georgia's European perspective too, so the wind of change is once again blowing through Europe and we have to capture this momentum."
The announcement represents a geopolitical step forward for the Balkan country, which has for months seen a rise in political infighting and ethnic tensions that threatens its delicate power-sharing system.
Bosnia has spent almost two decades on the EU's waiting list: it was first identified as a "potential" EU candidate in June 2003 and submitted its formal application in February 2016.
In June this year, the European Council affirmed it was "ready" to grant Bosnia the candidate status and asked the European Commission to report back on the implementation of 14 key priorities from its 2019 report, covering areas such as democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights and public administration reform.
The 2022 report is set to be presented on Wednesday afternoon by Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement.
A leaked version of the document suggests the conditions demanded by the Commission will focus on judicial reform, prevention of conflicts of interests, fight against corruption and organised crime, migration management, media freedom and creation of preventive mechanisms against torture and ill-treatment.
The recommendation has to be endorsed by the 27 EU countries in a unanimity
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