According to surveys conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the majority of population wants Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue the process of European integration and the country's politicians to make efforts towards this goal. However, the lack of political cooperation is slowing down the processes, which opens up space for Eurosceptics to search for alternative foreign policy orientations.

Although there are minimal periodic oscillations regarding the stance of citizens and civil society towards Bosnia's EU path, recent research indicates an extremely high percentage of those who see the country precisely among the EU countries.

For instance, a survey by the National Democratic Institute has shown that support for membership in the European Union is the strongest (85%) in recent years, with a noticeable increase in support among the Serb population in Bosnia and Herzegovina (55%). International Republican Institute has conducted a research with similar outcome: around 76% of respondents from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina would agree to joining the EU if there was a referendum on that matter now.

If classified by entities, the results would look like this: in the Federation BiH entity 87% of the population is in favour, while in Republika Srpska entity the percentage of the support is 57%.

On one hand, there is evident wish among the population for the EU membership but on the other hand the political reality and the institutional environment do not make the accession process more intense.

Even before Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the Bosnian population believed that the future of the country should be with the West. A part of the public considers it even more necessary after new global developments that started in February 2022, when the Russian Federation began its invasion of Ukraine.

Regardless of support for European integration, anti-European oriented individuals and groups are considering and advocating Bosnia and Herzegovina taking a place in alternative alliances.

However, SNSD's Milorad Dodik believes that BiH's European path has its own alternative path. The Bosnian Serb leader, who until recently was assumed to be approaching his political end, has announced his race for the post of the president of Republika Srpska.

Speaking to N1, political analyst Harun Cero commented on Dodik's stance towards the EU membership.

“His spokesmen have been emphasising through social networks after no granting of the candidate status, and even Dodik himself has been saying in the media, that it is a failed story – which is simply not true. I think it's double standards,”said Cero.

Euroscepticism and disinformation

Such double standards mean that one thing is said at Brussels meetings, while the other is done at home. At the same time, there is also a campaign to “instigate” distrust among citizens due to the slow process of joining the EU, which results in the critical focus being placed on European institutions instead of domestic leaders, and this directly contributes to Euroscepticism.

In an interview with N1, spokesperson of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ferdinand Koenig, said that it is no coincidence that disinformation strategies are “more successful” in societies with a low level of trust in institutions, which could even be seen very clearly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When we talk about anti-EU narratives, it is important to distinguish those that come from general frustration due to the lack of reforms or the slow pace of their implementation, and we share these frustrations, so we certainly distinguish that from those narratives that are part of a targeted and deliberate disinformation campaign,” he said.

Regarding the reform process, Koenig said he would repeat what was said at the highest level – that Bosnia and Herzegovina has a place in the European Union. He recalled that the European Council in June gave a specific and clear reference for the first time when it comes to candidate status, if certain reforms are fulfilled.

“We are asking BiH leaders to get more involved in that process in order to enable the country's progress towards the EU,” he told N1, concluding that this is what the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina want.