EU nations agree to grant Bosnia candidate status after years of standstill

Bosnia is now at the start of a laborious path to membership after the European Union decided to award it "candidate status" on Tuesday. The European Union's willingness to consider allowing in more of its eastern neighbours has been stagnant for years, but Russia's assault on Ukraine has given it new energy. The EU is worried that if nations hoping to join the organisation are denied entry, other powers, like Russia or China, may expand their influence into the Balkans.

After the executive branch of the bloc recommended in October that they start the membership process, Bosnia was given the all-clear to become a candidate during a meeting of European affairs ministers in Brussels.

The move is anticipated to receive official approval from EU leaders at a summit on Thursday in Brussels.

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The action being taken despite long-standing worries about Bosnia's political climate, a 3 million-person nation beset by ethnic tensions following a horrific war three decades ago.

It is still divided between a federation of Muslim-Croats and a Serb entity that are linked by a feeble central administration.

The EU has claimed that the Republika Srpska, the Serb portion of Bosnia, has blocked state institutions and brought about "virtual standstill" in the reform process.

Concerns have also been raised about Serb leaders' desire for deeper connections with Russia, and Bosnia's nationalist president, Milorad Dodik, has pledged to halt the EU's expansion if it results in a greater concentration of power there.

Bosnia will join the other seven countries—Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Moldova, and Ukraine—that have candidate status.

As applicants execute changes that must be extensively examined by Brussels, the process to join the European Union may take many years.

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