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| Bosnia to submit EU membership application next month | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Bosnia will officially apply to join the European Union on 15 February, the country’s presidency said, marking a major milestone in the former Yugoslav republic’s integration with the European mainstream two decades after emerging from war. | Bosnia will officially apply to join the European Union on 15 February, the country’s presidency said, marking a major milestone in the former Yugoslav republic’s integration with the European mainstream two decades after emerging from war. |
| Bosnia lags far behind its Balkan peers on the road to membership of the EU, with progress dogged by ethnic divisions after the 1992-95 war in which about 100,000 people died. | Bosnia lags far behind its Balkan peers on the road to membership of the EU, with progress dogged by ethnic divisions after the 1992-95 war in which about 100,000 people died. |
| Years of tough negotiation and reform lie ahead, complicated by a highly decentralised and often unwieldy system of government bestowed by a 1995 peace deal that divided power along ethnic lines. | Years of tough negotiation and reform lie ahead, complicated by a highly decentralised and often unwieldy system of government bestowed by a 1995 peace deal that divided power along ethnic lines. |
| The country faces frequent threats of secession from ethnic Serbs, who are considering holding a referendum on the authority of Bosnia’s national court over their autonomous region. | The country faces frequent threats of secession from ethnic Serbs, who are considering holding a referendum on the authority of Bosnia’s national court over their autonomous region. |
| Related: Sarajevo: a portrait of the city 20 years after the Bosnian war | Related: Sarajevo: a portrait of the city 20 years after the Bosnian war |
| Observers say Bosnia stands little chance of joining the EU before 2025. | Observers say Bosnia stands little chance of joining the EU before 2025. |
| “It is now quite definitive and clear that we have got the date by the EU chairman, the Netherlands, to submit the application on 15 February,” the Croat chairman of Bosnia’s three-person rotating presidency, Dragan Čović, told reporters. | “It is now quite definitive and clear that we have got the date by the EU chairman, the Netherlands, to submit the application on 15 February,” the Croat chairman of Bosnia’s three-person rotating presidency, Dragan Čović, told reporters. |
| “It is realistic that we get candidate status at the beginning of the next year,” he said. “I deeply believe this is a great chance for Bosnia-Herzegovina.” | “It is realistic that we get candidate status at the beginning of the next year,” he said. “I deeply believe this is a great chance for Bosnia-Herzegovina.” |
| Bosnia’s EU aspirations have been given impetus by a joint German and British initiative launched last year to encourage economic development and reform in exchange for EU funds and integration. | Bosnia’s EU aspirations have been given impetus by a joint German and British initiative launched last year to encourage economic development and reform in exchange for EU funds and integration. |
| The initiative followed years of delayed reform and a dramatic bout of civil unrest in February 2014, fuelled by popular anger over political inertia, high unemployment and rampant corruption. | The initiative followed years of delayed reform and a dramatic bout of civil unrest in February 2014, fuelled by popular anger over political inertia, high unemployment and rampant corruption. |
| The European commission, the EU’s executive arm, has said it will support reforms in Bosnia to the tune of €1bn (£760m) over the next three years, and a further €500m for investment in infrastructure upgrades. |