The EU has developed a policy to support the gradual integration of the Western Balkan countries with the Union. The EU aims to promote peace, stability and economic development in the region&nbsp;and open up the prospect of EU integration.

In order to apply for EU membership a country has to be European and respect the EU’s democratic values. It also needs stable institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the ability to take on and carry out the obligations of EU membership.

Parliament is fully involved in the Stabilisation and Association Process &nbsp;and must also consent to any new accession to the EU. In addition, through its budgetary powers, it has direct influence over the amounts allocated to the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance. Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs appoints standing rapporteurs for all candidate and potential candidate countries. Parliament expresses its positions on enlargement in the form of annual resolutions responding to the Commission’s latest annual country reports.

On 1&nbsp;July&nbsp;2013, Croatia became the first of the seven countries to join, and Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania are official candidates. Accession negotiations and chapters have been opened with Montenegro and Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidate countries.

EU Enlargement - Western Balkans

EP Plenary session - Recent devastating floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, including the EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee and the EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee Constitutive meeting

4th EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina Stabitisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC)

EP Plenary session - 2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina

EP Plenary session - Commemorating Srebrenica 28 years anniversary

AFET - Exchange of views with Borjana Krišto, Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Roberta METSOLA, EP President meets with Borjana KRIŠTO, Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina

AFET Committee - Vote assessment of the progress made towards EU membership by Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia

Roberta METSOLA, EP President meets with Sefik DZAFEROVIC , Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

EP Plenary session - Situation in Bosnia Herzegovina

Zeljana ZOVKO meets with Dragan COVIC,Chairman of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina

EP Plenary Session - Situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina

EP Plenary session - 2019-2020 Reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina

David SASSOLI EP President meets with  Mr DZAFEROVIC,  Mr KOMSIC Members of the Presidency of Bosnia Herzegovina and Mr DODIK Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Meeting of the Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo

Plenary session - Situation of migrants in Bosnia, in particular in Bihac

Constituent meeting of the Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo

EP President, Roberta METSOLA, participates to the EU-Western Balkans Summit. Before her address to the Council, she speaks to the press. One year after the 2022 summit in Tirana, EU and Western Balkans leaders met in Brussels for their fourth annual summit. The summit is an opportunity to reaffirm the EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans and also the need for partners’ sustained and irreversible reform achievements, underpinned by EU values and principles.

EU-Western Balkans Summit: Doorstep by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

MEPs debate the 2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) m by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). The report welcomes the European Council's decision to grant candidate status to BiH in the context of a changed geopolitical reality, on the understanding that a number of steps are taken to strengthen the country’s readiness for accession negotiations; reiterates its clear support for BiH’s EU integration, grounded in unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The report also recognises the importance of the Western Balkans in the EU’s enlargement policy, and urges the EU to accelerate the accession process for BiH, based on its own merits. Opening statement by Paulo RANGEL (EPP, PT), Rapporteur, and by Olivér VÁRHELYI, EC for Neighbourhood and Enlargement. The transcript is the result of an automated process. Please check against delivery

2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina: Opening statement by Paulo RANGEL (EPP, PT), Rapporteur, and by and by Olivér VÁRHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement

MEPs debate the 2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) m by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). The report welcomes the European Council's decision to grant candidate status to BiH in the context of a changed geopolitical reality, on the understanding that a number of steps are taken to strengthen the country’s readiness for accession negotiations; reiterates its clear support for BiH’s EU integration, grounded in unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The report also recognises the importance of the Western Balkans in the EU’s enlargement policy, and urges the EU to accelerate the accession process for BiH, based on its own merits. MEPs debate

2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina: MEPs debate

MEPs debate the 2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) m by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). The report welcomes the European Council's decision to grant candidate status to BiH in the context of a changed geopolitical reality, on the understanding that a number of steps are taken to strengthen the country’s readiness for accession negotiations; reiterates its clear support for BiH’s EU integration, grounded in unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The report also recognises the importance of the Western Balkans in the EU’s enlargement policy, and urges the EU to accelerate the accession process for BiH, based on its own merits. Closing by Olivér VÁRHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement and by Paulo RANGEL (EPP, PT)

2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina: Closing by Olivér VÁRHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement and by Paulo RANGEL (EPP, PT)

Roberta METSOLA, EP President gives a statement on Commemorating Srebrenica 28 years anniversary. Srebrenica massacre represents the slaying of more than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) boys and men, perpetrated by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica, a town in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in July 1995. In addition to the killings, more than 20,000 civilians were expelled from the area—a process known as ethnic cleansing. The massacre, which was the worst episode of mass murder within Europe since World War II, helped galvanize the West to press for a cease-fire that ended three years of warfare on Bosnia’s territory. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Commemorating Srebrenica 28 years anniversary: statement by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

Borjana KRIŠTO, Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is visiting Brussels. She meets with EP President Roberta Metsola. The Presidency officially nominated her as chairwoman-designate on 22 December. The national House of Representatives confirmed Krišto's appointment on 28 December, making her the first female Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers.

Roberta METSOLA, EP President meets with Borjana KRIŠTO, Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina - arrival, welcome and roundtable

MEPs debate on the official start of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania last July and to call on the EU to grant visa liberalisation to Kosovo. They are also likely to urge Serbia to align with the EU’s restrictive measures and policy towards Russia. first part of the debate.

EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the new enlargement package: MEPs debate (part 1)

MEPs debate on the official start of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania last July and to call on the EU to grant visa liberalisation to Kosovo. They are also likely to urge Serbia to align with the EU’s restrictive measures and policy towards Russia. opening statements by Oliver VARHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.

EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the new enlargement package: opening statement by Oliver VARHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement

On the 14th September 2022, Ursula von der LEYEN, EC President, delivers her State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech in the European Parliament. This infoclip illustrates one of the main stake of the coming year: the future of the Europea Union. Following the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoe) which took place from May 2021 to May 2022, EU citizens have asked for a revision of the treaties and a reconstruction of the EU. Furthermore, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have been granted the candidate status to join the EU, while discussions to enlarge the European Union to Western Balkans countries are ongoing.

Infoclip: Future of the European Union

During the plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs assess the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Opening statements by Michael GAHLER (EPP, DE), Rapporteur and by Janez LENARČIČ, European Commissioner for Crisis Management

2021 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina: opening statements by Michael GAHLER (EPP, DE), Rapporteur and by Janez LENARČIČ, European Commissioner for Crisis Management

MEPs and the European Commission review together the latest developments in the Western Balkans and assess the political situation in three accession countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. Extracts from the debates.

EU enlargement to Western Balkans - Political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia: extracts from the debates

Šefik DŽAFEROVIĆ, the current Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is in Brussels and meets Roberta METSOLA, EP Presidnet, in the European Parliament.

Roberta METSOLA, EP President meets with Šefik DŽAFEROVIĆ , Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Foreign Affairs Committee debate the persisting challenges in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Chairman and members of the country’s tripartite Presidency, Željko Komšić, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šefik Džaferović, Bosniak Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Milorad Dodik, Serb Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Speaker of the country’s House of Peoples Dragan Čović.

Exchange of views with the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina: extracts - AFET Committee

During the plenary session (23-24 June 2021) in the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs debate on the 2019-2020 Reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2019-2020 Reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina: MEPs debate

During the plenary session (23-24 June 2021) in the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs debate on the 2019-2020 Reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Closing statements by Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Council of the EU and by Olivier VARHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.

2019-2020 Reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina: closing statements by Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Council of the EU and by Olivier VARHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement

During the plenary session (23-24 June 2021) in the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs debate on the 2019-2020 Reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Opening statement by Paulo RANGEL (EPP, PT), rapporteur, Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Council of the EU and by Olivier VARHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.

2019-2020 Reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina: opening statements by Paulo RANGEL (EPP, PT), rapporteur, Ana Paula ZACARIAS, Council of the EU and by Olivier VARHELYI, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has become a transit route for migrants heading towards western Europe. This infoclip shows the Blažuj Temporary Reception Centre (for single man and unaccompanied minors) and the Usivak Temporary Reception Centre (for Unaccompanied minors , Children in families , Adults in families and small number single man). Views of the registration office, lunch distribution, medical unit, activities...

Infoclip: New migration routes - Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - Reception centre of Blažuj and Usivak

During the plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels (14-18 December 2020), David SASSOLI, EP President, makes his opening remarks from Strasbourg on the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement and the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Resumption of session and order of business: opening remark by David SASSOLI, EP President on the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement and the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement

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