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EU secretly demands Banja Luka approve sanctions on Russia as key to accession — official

On March 12, the European Commission recommended that the EU Council start negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina on accession to the community

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. The European Union is secretly demanding that Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) approve sanctions against Russia in exchange for progress on integration into the bloc, Nenad Stevandic, speaker of the National Assembly (parliament) of Republika Srpska (a constituent entity of BiH), said in an interview with Izvestia.

"Right now this is being done secretly; I am one of the witnesses. But very soon it will be done openly. It is clear to everyone how the conflict in Ukraine will end, and they want people like us, who have independent thinking and opinions, to become fewer and fewer," he said, responding to a question about whether European authorities have demanded that Bosnia and Herzegovina join sanctions against Russia in exchange for further progress on the Balkan country’s path to Eurointegration.

Serbian member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic told TASS on the sidelines of the XI Global Baku Forum that BiH expects to join the European Union, but the process will be lengthy.

On March 12, the European Commission recommended that the EU Council start negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina on accession to the community.

On December 15, 2022, the European Union granted candidate country status to Bosnia and Herzegovina for eventual accession to the bloc.