EU ministers agree to give Bosnia EU candidate status

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - European Union general affairs ministers have agreed that Bosnia and Herzegovina should become a formal candidate to join the bloc, the EU enlargement commissioner said on Tuesday.

"Today we have reached another milestone. The way to the EU is open! We have great hopes and expectations that 14 key priorities will be fulfilled for the benefit of citizens,” Oliver Varhelyi said.

The EU leaders are expected to approve the recommendation at the summit to be held on Dec. 15.

Candidacy status is the first step in a country's long-term EU accession process.

After a country is granted candidate status, accession negotiations begin in the following stages, provided that the conditions are met.

Accession negotiations can take years to begin.