European Union leaders on Thursday offered Bosnia and Herzegovina official candidate status for joining the 27-nation bloc, Reuters reports.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina received the status of a candidate country today. This is a strong signal to the people, but also a clear expectation that the new government will implement reforms,” ​​European Council President Charles Michel said in a message on Twitter.

“The future of the Western Balkans is in the EU,” Michel said.

Thus, Bosnia and Herzegovina will join the other countries – Albania, Moldova, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine – in the process of joining the EU, which may last many years and include complex negotiations on the adaptation of national legislation to those of the EU .