The days when Viktor Orbรกn could block negotiations on a whim should be over โ and the western Balkans should finally benefit Russiaโs invasion of Ukraine has revived EU expansion as an imperative. For years, โenlargementโ has been a low priority โ Cro…
To see the kids kicking balls around at the international tournament in Croatia is more than just a joy; itโs a miracleEven though I didnโt know Graham Norton, I ended up playing simultaneous chess alongside Nemanja Vidiฤ. I should explain. A couple of…
The journey from destruction to reconstruction, from poverty to prosperity, is never easy. As the Mostar Bridge shows, itโs possible. With commitment, partnerships, and support, we can help more countries cross the bridge to a peaceful and prosperous f…
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF on Tuesday (23 July) urged Bosnia’s authorities to raise the measles vaccination rate among children after two adolescents in the Balkan country died in an outbreak of the highly infectious respiratory ill…
Formerly sedate attempts at electricity market integration in South-Eastern Europe have been given a new dynamism amid a concrete EU perspective โ and a looming punitive CO2 duty.
EU candidate countries from the continent’s South and East are meeting in Bosnia and Herzegovina today, 3 July, to reinforce efforts to integrate with the blocโs energy markets to avoid potential tariffs on power exports to the EU.
Fedja Stukan says he was not allowed to enter country after writing โdangerous bookโ on his experience in 1990s warA Bosnian actor who was deported from Serbia this week has said he believes he was expelled for writing openly about his experience in th…
A major power outage hit Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and most of Croatia’s coast on Friday (21 June), disrupting businesses, shutting down traffic lights and leaving people sweltering without air conditioning in the middle of a heatwave.
The move could hinder Savajevo’s European accession progress, Slovenian President Nataลกa Pirc Musar warns.
An ally of Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik called the move retaliation for support of a U.N. resolution on Srebrenica.
The Bosnian Serb government late Tuesday (28 May) withdrew a controversial draft law aimed at creating a register of non-profit groups getting international funding to designate them as foreign agents, officials said.
While Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is not ready for EU accession, the United Nations High Representative for Bosnia, Christian Schmidt, told Euractiv that EU leaders must be aware the country could be at great risk if the accession process is further d…
The UN General Assembly will vote Thursday (23 May) on establishing an annual day of remembrance for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, despite furious opposition from Bosnian Serbs and Serbia.
Decades later, Belgrade is still determined to control the narrative over the slaughter of over 8,000 Bosniaks in 1995 during the Yugoslav war and mold it to its own interests.
Reaching a consensus on memorializing the past in a way that doesnโt sow division is the best way to ensure it does not โ and cannot โ happen again.
Serbian government ignores criticism to ink agreement.
Ending genocide denial is more relevant than ever, however, the opportunity is being squandered as politicians fail to confront and process the past in a responsible way.
The most important responsibility for election management bodies today is to build and sustain votersโ trust in the integrity of the electoral process โ and tech companies can help.
Bosnia’s international peace overseer on Tuesday (26 March) imposed changes to the country’s election law to ensure its integrity, including barring convicted war criminals from running, ahead of a vote in October.
Leaders of the bloc caution that the country will have to undertake more reforms before the next step can beginEU leaders have agreed to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina on joining the bloc, while also stressing the Balkan country would ha…
The bloc has given the green light to start membership talks with the country, eight years after it first applied.
The bloc has given the green light to start membership talks with the country, eight years after it first applied.
Member states gave the political green light for the opening of accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but noted the need for further progress.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a step closer to entering formal talks on its accession to the European Union after the blocโs 27 leaders green-lighted the move on Thursday.
EU leaders gave the political green light on Thursday (21 March) for opening membership talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina but also made clear the Western Balkan country would have to undertake more reforms before the actual talks could start.
EU leaders are set to give the political green light to open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday (21 March), but the outcome still hangs in the balance as several member states aim to tie the decision to progress on Ukraine and Mold…
The European Commission last week gave a positive recommendation to start formal accession negotiations, which EU leaders now plan to follow.
As EU leaders face a tough call this week whether to move with the next steps for Ukraine and Moldova or risk a delay until after the EU elections, progress on Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to complicate matters further.
The EU has a lot of preparation to do before adding new members, but would rather get the European election out of the way first.
Eight years on, the EU Commission is to recommend on Tuesday that member states open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country took “impressive steps” to meet the bloc’s standards, Ursula von der Leyen said.
The European Commission will today recommend opening EU accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina, eight years after the Western Balkan country applied to be a member of the bloc.
The European Commission is expected to recommend that Bosnia-Herzegovina start accession talks on Tuesday (12 March), according to people familiar with the matter.
The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina unanimously adopted and sent to parliament the draft law on the prevention of conflicts of interest in the state institutions, one of the key reform laws the EU insists on so the European Council can d…
Elmedin Konakoviฤ stresses the “geopolitical” context of the bloc’s decision later this month.
European Parliament resolution calls for an independent investigation of December’s election.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoanฤ on Thursday (1 February) reaffirmed the Alliance’s support for Bosnia during a visit to Sarajevo, condemning the “secessionist policies” of Bosnian Serb leaders.
Antje Kunst*
Photo credit: Jan-Tore
Egge, via Wikimedia
Commons
Introduction
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If Bosnia and Herzegovina does not open accession negotiations in March, not only will it lose the whole of 2024 on the way to the EU, but it may also never get the chance to negotiate membership again, Croatian MEP ลฝeljana Zovkoย warned in an interview…
In a letter sent to the heads of diplomacy of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gordan Grliฤ Radman and Elmedin Konakoviฤ, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on them to influence the head of HDZ BiH, Dragan ฤoviฤ, to urgently adopt the L…
A group of women victims of Bosnia’s 1990s war pressed charges on Thursday (11 January) against organisers of a rally glorifying Ratko Mladiฤ, the wartime army chief given life in prison over war crimes, including genocide.
Ratko Samac is wanted by authorities over atrocities.
Bosnian Serbs marked on Tuesday (9 January) their self-proclaimed “national day”, disregarding condemnations and warnings that the holiday violated Bosnia’s constitution and put peace at risk.
Brussels has sounded the alarm over celebrations planned in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s post-war Serb region, the Republika Srpska, to mark its breakaway anniversary.
The nationalist leader of Bosnia’s post-war Serb region said on Monday (8 January) he had no plans to seek secession, appearing to step back from earlier calls for a breakaway republic just as the United States stepped up pressure against him.
Two US fighter jets flew over Bosnia as parts of the country prepared to mark the anniversary of the proclamation of Republika Srpska as a breakaway stateTwo US fighter jets flew over Bosnia on Monday in a gesture of support for the country on the eve …
Our commitment and destiny lie within the EU, but the speed of our journey towards membership will directly impact democracy and the living standards of our citizens, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Beฤiroviฤ writes.
Sami Barkal filmed border guards beating fellow asylum seekers and is challenging Croatia in Europeโs court of human rightsA Syrian refugee who secretly filmed Croatian border guards beating his travel companions is to take Croatiaโs authorities to the…
Air quality in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina is so bad some people are wearing masks.
Piedmont town near French border is now best budget ski resort in Europe for adults, figures showThe ski resorts of Bulgaria have long been seen as the best option for British skiers hoping to hit the slopes on a budget. Borovets and Bansko might not h…
Soon after independence, we welcomed a Bosnian refugee family to our home. Now more and more Slovenes are heeding far-right mythsOne weekend in July 1993, when independent Slovenia was two years old, my father announced over breakfast: โAna, our life w…
Decision after hours of tense negotiations in Brussels is critical boost to Volodymyr ZelenskiyThe EU has decided to open membership negotiations with Ukraine, in an unexpected move that will be a critical boost to Volodymyr Zelenskiy and deal a blow t…
In a resolution on enlargement policy, Parliament calls it one of the strongest geopolitical tools at the EUโs disposal and a strategic investment in peace and security.Committee on Foreign Affairs Source : ยฉ European Union, 2023 – EP
Whether it’s Ukraine, Russia, or even the Israel-Hamas conflict, the impression in EU circles is that the pair are singing from the same songbook.
Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani issues plea for some movement as countries’ membership bids stall.
In a visually impressive documentary, film-maker Stefan Pavlovic spends time with a fisherman and former soldier living in an abandoned churchGrowing up in Montreal in a Bosnian household, Stefan Pavlovic yearned to connect with his family origins, a l…
Enlargement may offer Europe greater security, but its price is change with daunting financial and political costsEuropean Union leaders are coming around to the geopolitical necessity of embracing Ukraine, Moldova and western Balkan countries as futur…
Councilโs commissioner for human rights says some people prosecuted in the Hague for war crimes โreturn to their communities as heroesโThe failure of the countries of the former Yugoslavia to address their violent past has had devastating consequences …
The Neretva, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is one of the most biodiverse rivers on the continent โ supporting bears, wolves, lynx and many rare species โ but more than 50 planned dams could permanently transform the ecosystemAt the bottom of a ravine, nea…
Strategic metals are key for the European Union as it looks to reduce its dependence on Chinese or Russian raw materials. However, a flagship mining project in Bosnia and Herzegovina is stirring anger among some residents.
Croatians and Serbs at odds after name of airport changed to 18th-century polymath Ruฤer BoลกkoviฤThe renaming of Dubrovnikโs airport has ignited a new ethnic row between Croatians and Serbs, this time over the lineage of one of the ancient port cityโs …
Where each aspiring new member stands after the European Commission published its latest enlargement report.
As the US loosens its ties with Ukraine and the EU pulls Kyiv closer, Brussels risks ending up having to shoulder a much larger share of the burden.
This week the Beyond the Byline podcast looks at Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s tour of the Western Balkans. The EU executive chief talked to leaders of Western Balkans countries to encourage their governments to continue their hard …
Roadmap for expansion suggests integrating countries such as Ukraine into sections of EU before negotiations are completeGermany has proposed a detailed and innovative roadmap to expand the EU that would give candidate countries such as Ukraine early b…
This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereGert Jan Koopman, the head of the European Commissionโs directorate-general for neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations, has said Bosnia and Herzegovinaโs progress โmust continueโ an…
Jeton Nezirajโs Negotiating Peace is a frenzied comedy drawing on Bosnian and Kosovan wars When political leaders present war as the only solution, it is up to artists to remind people that finding peace is still possible. That is the starting point fo…
As a child, I saw what follows ethnic cleansing. Thatโs why I am speaking out about my new homeโs silence over Palestinian deathsWhen I moved to Berlin, I developed a habit of stopping by the Stolpersteine (โstumbling stonesโ memorials) and reading abo…
Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to three ethnic groups who were at the core of one of the deadliest conflicts on European soil since World War II. Twenty-seven years after that war, Selma and Danilo, who belong to different ethnic communities, talk abo…
In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the Hamas-Israel war causing friction in Bosnia and Herzegovina , German parties united in support of Israel, and so much more.
The start of a new war in the Middle East has triggered a new round of divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, like reactions to the war in Ukraine, is playing out along ethnic and religious lines, with Croats and…
Few places in the Balkans reveal the volatile ethnic politics of the region as much as stadiumsIn the away stand of the creaking ฤika Daฤa stadium, a hooded and masked football fan summoned the crowd to get on their feet and raise their hands. โThree, …
Austria, Croatia and Slovenia are pushing to open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina this year, arguing that the move would be of geopolitical importance to stabilise the region, the foreign ministers of the three states wrote in an op-ed…
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik on Sunday (10 September) retracted his recent threat to the top international envoy to Bosnia that he would be arrested if he enters the country’s Serb entity.
Croatia is experiencing an โunprecedentedโ number of migrants crossing its border from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina this summer, with the government working to combat the influx by finalising plans for a new migrant registration hub and building…
Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik said on Thursday (7 September) that police in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated region have been instructed to arrest and deport an international peace envoy if he enters the Serb Republic.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is hoping to get Austriaโs help in signing a status agreement with the border agency Frontex, as Bosnian Interior Minister Nenad Nesic met with Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner during a working meeting in Vienna on Tuesday. Ka…
Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina – an EU candidate country – are undemocratic and entrench the privileged position of dominant ethnic groups, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday.
Milorad Dodik says representatives from Republika Srpska will send a proposal to the Bosnian government โin the coming days.โ
Thousands of people marched in Sarajevo and other Bosnian cities Monday (14 August), days after a woman was murdered by her partner who livestreamed her killing on social media before killing two men and himself.
Serbia and Bosnia’s Serb Republic on Friday (4 August) marked the 1995 exodus of Serbs from Croatia in a Bosnian town notorious for Serb war crimes during the Bosnian war, triggering outcry from survivors and human rights activists.
The United States on Monday (31 July) imposed sanctions against four top Bosnian Serb officials, including the Serb member of the country’s presidency, for undermining a US-sponsored peace deal that ended the Balkan country’s war in the 1990s.
Peace between Hemedtiโs RSF and Sudanโs army will not end war crimes. As UN security council president, Britain must actAs conflict in Sudan escalates, it is becoming clear that the Rapid Support Forces has returned to Darfur to complete the genocide i…
Given that enlargement must happen, member countries are asking themselves what this actually means โ and there remains a lot to be answered.
The EU warned the authorities of the increasingly defiant Republika Srpska (RS), the Serb entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Wednesday (20 July) to cease divisive rhetoric and actions or face “serious consequences”.
The Netherlands will foster the military capacities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova by investing an additional โฌ8 million into a NATO fund, outgoing Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra (CDA/EPP) announced during the NATO summit in Vilnius on…
Spain’s prime minister has taken many risks but his latest could consign him to election defeat.
While many citizens of the former Yugoslavia miss the lower prices and global recognition, others warn against over-romanticising the Tito eraOn a recent day in Belgrade, as the sun beat down, coaches pulled up and departed outside the Museum of Yugosl…
