EU Enlargement and the Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Brief Historical Sketch

This paper examines Bosnia and Herzegovina’s integration process to the European Union (EU), by combining a historical outline, with an analytical description of the ever growing impact of the EU, both in the country, as in the whole region. Major steps done both by domestic government and the international community, in particular the Office of the High Representative (OHR), to ease and facilitate Bosnia and Herzegovina´s road to the EU will be presented. At the same time the major obstacles toward being accepted as an EU member are identified, such as structural insufficiencies, the specific postwar-situation and the ethnic fragmentation of the country.