High Representative Christian Schmidt welcomes today’s decision by the European Commission to recommend candidate status be granted to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The EC’s recommendation reaffirms the commitment of the European Union to integration perspectives of the Western Balkans, and in particular Bosnia and Herzegovina. BiH already has a place reserved in the great European family. This unanimous message from Brussels is especially important now, when international law is being trampled and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of independent states are questioned or violated.

It remains the responsibility of BiH’s leaders and institutions to do their part. Swift implementation of election results and formation of authorities is the key priority, so that parliaments and other relevant institutions can decisively engage in fulfilling the requirements for BiH to continue moving uninterrupted towards full EU integration.

This will require a joint effort from everyone in BiH. But the ultimate goal is to have the younger generations, regardless of their ethnicity, living in Europe without borders, concluded the High Representative.