Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Accession Process to the European Union: Before and After the Invasion of Ukraine
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2025-06-23
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en
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 provoked a new geopolitical situation in Europe. The
invasion has also had consequences for the EU enlargement policy, with the EU looking to
speed up the currently ongoing accession processes. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession
process to the EU has also seen an increase in speed. In 2022, the country received candidate
status, and in 2024, accession negotiations were opened. This raises the question whether the
EU has changed its approach to the EU accession process of Bosnia and Herzegovina in light
of the new geopolitical circumstances. By doing a qualitative content analysis of
Communications on EU Enlargement Policy from 2016 (except 2017) to 2024 by the European
Commission, this thesis argues that there has been a shift from a transformative logic to
enlargement towards a geopolitical approach, which is combined with the transformative logic
from before. From 2022 onwards, the EU started to emphasise the importance of geopolitics
and matters of security in its enlargement policy more and more, whereas before, the focus was
on transformation and the achievement of reforms in aspiring member states.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen