In a few years time a Bosnian passport is likely to be more powerful and useful than a British one.
Who would have predicted that just a few years ago? Not much fun being a third class citizen of a third country is it.
Today, we are recommending to open EU accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since we granted candidate status, Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken impressive steps towards us. In particular, the country has taken forward reforms by:
adopting the law on the prevention of conflict of interests;
adopting the law on anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing;
improving the judiciary and prosecutorial system, the fight against corruption organised crime and terrorism;
improving migration management, with the approval of a mandate to negotiate a Frontex status agreement;
reaching and maintaining full alignment with the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy.
More progress is necessary to join our Union but the country is showing that it can deliver on its membership criteria.
The future of Bosnia and Herzegovina lies in our Union.