“It’s the beginning” of a long journey, Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said.
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Dutch FM Bert Koenders, whose country now presides over the EU and to whom Covic submitted the application, welcomed this act and “stressed that the EU Council of Ministers is fully committed to the accession of Western Balkan countries into the ranks of the Union”, Beta agency reported.
“Only twenty years ago, it was in the Balkans where one of the most terrible pages in European history was written”.
But Federica Mogherini, the head of foreign affairs for the European Union, emphasised the positive message of the move on Monday for both Bosnia – with its complex matrix of governments in different regions and elaborate decision-making procedures – and the bloc, engulfed with multiple crises. “We are aware that this is our task, that we need to do it”.
“The Council Conclusions of December 2015 reinforce Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European Union perspective and outline that meaningful progress in the implementation of the reform agenda is necessary for the European Union to consider a membership application from Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Covic, …
Previous attempts at reform have been hampered by unresolved tensions from the 1990s conflict, which have Bosnia and Herzegovina divided along ethnic lines.
The bloc is also in negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on membership, with two other countries, Albania and Macedonia, official candidates.
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Last March, EU foreign ministers and Bosnia signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement that had been on hold since 2008, paving the way for the application.
