"Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia want Brussels to initiate talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding its accession to the European Union in the next two months," Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said after the annual regular meeting of Danube countries held in Brdo near Kranj.

“Yes, absolutely. We share the common goal that talks between the EU and BiH regarding its accession begin by the end of this year. We are working hard on this,” Fajon told the reporters.

BiH was granted candidate status for membership in December 2022, but negotiations have not yet commenced.

“Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia are strong supporters of EU enlargement. We believe that now is the political moment for the EU to move towards a new enlargement so that Europe becomes stronger and more united due to the geopolitical situation,” Fajon said. “However, this is a two-way street, and both the EU and candidate countries must be prepared,” she added.

Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg stated that his country, Slovenia, and Croatia are “good friends of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” but not the only ones.

“We want talks with BiH to begin,” Schallenberg noted.

Some also advocate for opening accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova by the end of the year, seeking an expedited process for these two countries. The Austrian Minister believes that all candidate countries should have equal status.

“Our position is clear; we don’t want to have two classes of candidate countries. It would be a mistake to consider some more privileged than others,” Schallenberg said, adding that Western Balkans countries have been waiting for years.

Brussels granted candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova, and BiH after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

“We are waiting for the decision to open negotiations, which could happen by the end of the year,” Bosnia’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic said. During the said meeting, he met with ministers from Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, as well as lower-ranking officials from other Danube countries.

“The opening of negotiations with BiH is of a political nature,” he added. “This would be a strong political message to European forces in BiH, and perhaps a blow to pro-Russian and pro-Eastern forces that don’t welcome our rapid progress.”

Konakovic noted that he is aware that his country faces a “complex process” because, in addition to the goodwill of some foreign ministers, it is necessary to convince other countries like “Germany and the Netherlands, with whom he is in discussions.”