Bosnia and Herzegovina’s journey towards EU membership reached a milestone last December when it received candidate status. Now, the country faces its biggest political crisis since the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in the 1990s.
Leaders from the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean made progress during a two-day summit on trade deals and global investment between the regions. Discussions on technology, human rights and climate change took place. However, the 60 countries failed to unanimously condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the battle over the nature restoration law entered a knife-edge vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The key biodiversity bill was adopted with a slim majority after weeks of fierce debate – with some saying it fell victim to electioneering.
Kiev, backed by NATO allies in Eastern Europe, has demanded a commitment at next week’s NATO summit in Vilnius that Ukraine will join the military alliance once the war with Russia is over. The military alliance is still considering an appropriate response to Kiev’s demands.
A decade ago, Croatia became the then 28th member of the European Union. The country has achieved its strategic goals, but membership has led to a significant population outflow. In the meantime, neighbouring countries are still in the waiting room.
Ahead of Spain’s EU Presidency, the country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for European unity ahead of the elections next year. The socialist wants to lead Europe through crises and aims to settle the major issues by the end of this year: the European migration pact, the debt rules and reducing the bloc’s dependence on third countries, among other topics. The national snap elections in July could spoil that.