The opening of accession negotiations between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected at the end of this year or at the beginning of next year, Croatian Minister of European and Foreign Affairs Gordan Grlic Radman said on Tuesday.

“We can expect the start of accession negotiations between BiH and the EU, if not by the end of this year, which would be best, then certainly at the beginning of next year,” Grlic Radman told the press at the Bled Strategic Forum.

The minister said that it was Croatia's proposal at the last Stabilisation and Association Council in July and that Croatia expects positive reports from the European Commission on the progress of the countries of the Western Balkans.

BiH received the status of a candidate for membership in December last year.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said a day earlier in Bled that the European Union and the candidate countries should be ready for enlargement by 2030.

Grlic Radman said today that it was important to send such a strong message and added that the countries of the Western Balkans can make significant progress by that year.

Today, the Croatian foreign minister also addressed the status of Montenegro, where the crisis over the formation of the government continues. Grlic Radman said that the country must show that it is committed to pro-European values ​​”not only in its declarations but also in its actions”, recalling that it closed the last chapter in the negotiations during Croatia's presidency of the European Union in 2020.