The European Union has officially accepted the Balkan country of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a candidate for accession. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and the other heads of state and government of the EU countries made the decision at a summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday, as confirmed by an EU official and several diplomats. Meanwhile, the agreement the summit hoped for on a gas price cap was postponed.
On Tuesday, the European ministers of the EU countries had already recommended that Bosnia and Herzegovina be a candidate for accession. The reason was also the concern that Bosnia-Herzegovina would otherwise be able to orient itself more towards Russia or China.
Earlier in June, on a recommendation from the Commission, EU member states officially named Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for EU membership. However, accession negotiations cannot begin until reform requirements are met. This procedure should now also apply to the Balkan country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has a population of some 3.3 million.
support from Austria
In the course of the decision in favor of Ukraine and Moldova, Austria in particular had insisted that Bosnia and Herzegovina should also follow this path. The country was given the prospect of joining the EU in 2003 and officially applied for membership in 2016. However, in 2019 it was decided that the country would not be granted candidate status until it had fulfilled 14 reform requirements. The EU Commission recently emphasized that meeting the conditions is still crucial for the start of accession negotiations.
Of the six Western Balkan countries, only the Republic of Kosovo is currently not a candidate for accession. However, the country officially applied for membership of the European Union this week. For the youngest state in Europe, it was a rather symbolic act: EU membership is currently not within reach for the country, which has been independent since 2008. The main obstacle to rapprochement with the EU is that five EU countries – Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus – do not recognize Kosovo.
No agreement on gas price cap
A decision on a gas price cap in the EU was not taken at what is expected to be the last summit of this year. According to an EU official, EU energy ministers will make the decision on Monday. EU countries have been struggling for weeks to limit gas prices. While Greece and Italy, for example, argue for a strict upper limit, Austria and Germany, among others, fear for security of supply. Chancellor Nehammer reiterated before the summit: it is necessary “that there is enough gas available, that the supply does not become scarce and the other part is that it remains affordable”.
Meanwhile, a solution seems to have been found in the dispute with Poland over the planned global minimum tax for companies. According to information from diplomatic circles, Warsaw is abandoning its resistance. This paves the way for a slew of related agreements, most notably planned EU support of €18 billion for Ukraine in the coming year.
It is still unclear whether the EU states can also agree on sanctions against Russia. So far, Poland and the Baltic states have resisted it. They believe the exemptions for grain and fertilizer exports proposed by various Western countries go too far. Unlike usual, the summit is only scheduled for one day. Diplomats expect it to last well into the night from Friday to Friday.
Source: Krone
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