The European Commission said on Wednesday that it has recommended granting European Union candidate member status to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The news came amid controversies relating to the governance in the nation, but the EU has said that the membership depends on future reforms.
This was a major step for the Balkan nation which has been looking to gain EU membership for the last few years and if things go according to plan, it can become a candidate member by 2023.
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The European Commission has the power to recommend countries for EU membership and the decision is taken after a unanimous vote. EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said that after much deliberation by all members of the commission, they “recommended that candidate status be granted” to Bosnia and Herzegovina “pending a slew of commitments for fundamental reform” in the future.
“We are doing this for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But it also comes with high expectations. It is for the elites to turn this into reality,” Varhelyi said according to Reuters.
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While becoming a candidate member is a huge step forward for any country, it can generally take around 2-3 years for a nation to ultimately become a full member of the European Union.
When it comes to the country’s internal issues, the global media has been extremely critical of the corruption scandals and electoral frauds in the recent past. The government has been accused of fraud in the recent elections with the Election Commission ordering recounts in several regions.
