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More than 27 years ago, the devastating war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1991 to 1995 ended with the Dayton Agreement. The ethnocentric constitution enshrined in the agreement and the division of the country into Republika Srpska and a federation may have pacified the country, but it has been frozen in a post-conflict status quo ever since. Hard-won reforms to strengthen state institutions are being undermined by uncompromising nationalist forces in all ethnic groups; the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, even regularly threatens secession.
\nAfter a long dry spell, the geopolitical changes caused by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine contributed significantly to achieving progress in the regional enlargement context in 2022, despite considerable resistance from individual EU member states.
\nWhy is it in the EU's interest to integrate Bosnia and the Western Balkans? Can the recent momentum be maintained and can Bosnia and Herzegovina seize its opportunity or will the zero-sum game mentality of ethnocentric power politicians prevail? How can the EU bind this region to itself in the long term and how can the oversized influence of the Russian Federation, which only acts as a spoiler in the region, be pushed back?<\/p>\n
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