The European Commission has officially recommended the western Balkan nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina be granted EU candidate status by the European Council. Candidate status would be conditional on the Bosnian gov't acting to, "reinforce democracy, functionality of state institutions, rule of law, the fight against corruption and organised crime, guarantee media freedom and migration management in the country".

• An acceleration to Bosnia's application has been seen as appropriate given it has been six years since it launched its accession process, meanwhile Ukraine's proposed membership has been fast-tracked since the Russian invasion began.
• Bosnia's accession would need unanimous Council approval by each member state, and each member state parliament - two factors that cannot be guaranteed. Bosnia would also be many years, if not decades, off joining the eurozone (its convertible mark currency is already pegged to the euro). It would be the second-smallest economy by GDP (ahead of the tiny island nation of Malta) and the lowest GDP per capita by some margin.