Bosnia-Herzegovina Wants to Become EU Member State

 

Bosnia-Herzegovina has recently applied to become a full member of the European Union.  The last country to become an EU member was Croatia, which was admitted in 2013. The European Union has welcomed Bosnia's application but said that the process will take a long time and that no new members will be accepted in this decade.

The Balkan country, with about 4 million people, is among the poorest in Europe. After the breakup of former Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina was at the centre of a civil war which killed a hundred thousand people. Today, twenty years later, the country is still divided between Muslims, Serbs and Croats.

Before Bosnia-Herzegovina can become an EU member state it needs to introduce more political and economic reforms. Wartime quarrels between the ethnic groups are still going on and, until now, have been a major obstacle to EU membership. On the other side, up 40% of Bosnians are unemployed. Tens of thousands are leaving the country every year in search of better jobs in wealthier European countries..

However, Bosnia-Herzegovina is desperately determined to catch up with the other former Yugoslav republics,especially Slovenia and Croatia.

 

 

The European Union has actively promoted talks with Balkan nations in an attempt to give the region more stabilityNegotiations with Montenegro and Serbia have already started , in the near future talks with Macedonia are also expected to begin.

 

 

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Words

  • accept = to let in
  • actively = here: to do a lot
  • admit = here: to become a member
  • application = here: document , in which you want to become a member
  • apply = to ask for something in a written document
  • attempt = try
  • breakup = here: a country breaks apart and becomes many smaller countries
  • catch up with = to be on the same level with
  • civil war = conflict in which two groups of the same country fight against each other
  • decade = ten years
  • desperately = extremely, very much
  • determined = if you want to do something very much
  • divided = split
  • especially = above all
  • ethnic = from a group of people who have the same language, race or religion
  • former = in the past
  • major = very important
  • near future = soon
  • negotiation = talks
  • obstacle= something that makes it difficult to get something
  • process =series of actions needed for full membership
  • promote = encourage; to help someone do something
  • quarrel = argument
  • recently = a short time ago
  • stability = situation that stays the same; here: without the wars and conflicts of the past
  • unemployed = out of work; with no job
  • wartime = during the war
  • wealthier = richer