President Pahor welcomes today’s decision of the European Commission to recommend to the European Council that Bosnia and Herzegovina be granted EU candidate status

President Pahor welcomes today’s decision of the European Commission to recommend to the European Council that Bosnia and Herzegovina be granted EU candidate status.

This relates to a Slovenian initiative, which President Borut Pahor formally presented for the first time in his speech at this year’s Munich Security Conference, on 22 February 2022. Both at the time and subsequently, his initiative made waves, as Pahor called for fast-tracking Bosnia and Herzegovina’s status even without it having to fulfil any conditions, which would be contrary to common practice and historically unprecedented. Pahor emphasised that Bosnia and Herzegovina should not be subject to the rigid administrative fulfilment of conditions, as it presents a unique geopolitical issue. Pahor’s initiative was made public before the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and it was precisely such a geopolitical argument that prevailed and resulted in the European Council deciding in June of this year to fast track Ukraine’s status.

In early June, President Pahor consulted with Prime Minister Robert Golob regarding the initiative. In line with their decision, President Pahor wrote to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, while Prime Minister Golob advocated for the initiative at the June session of the EU Council.

Although Slovenia’s proposal was unsuccessful at the time, it did encourage the Council to instruct the European Commission to prepare a report on Bosnia and Herzegovina by the December session. Today’s decision of the European Commission raises great hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina will be granted candidate status at the December session of the EU Council, which President Pahor views as ground-breaking for two reasons: firstly, it marks the beginning of Bosnia’s European perspective, and secondly, it is of great importance for peace and stability in the Western Balkans.