UPDATE 1-European Commission recommends opening EU membership talks with Bosnia

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European Commission backs Bosnia over EU accession talks

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Decision requires approval of all 27 EU member states

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EU leaders expected to discuss recommendation next week

(Changes dateline, adds details of Commission decision and quotes)

By Daria Sito-Sucic

SARAJEVO, March 12 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Tuesday recommended opening European Union membership talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying the Balkan country had made more progress on reforms over the past year than in the previous decade.

"Of course, more progress is necessary to join the Union but the country is showing that it can deliver on its membership criteria and on its citizens' aspirations to be part of our family," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Bosnia, which suffers from ethnic rivalries and secession threats nearly three decades after its war in the 1990s, has long languished near the back of the queue for EU membership.

But it has benefited from a new openness to EU enlargement among EU officials who have said Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine showed the dangers of having "grey zones" destabilised by foreign powers on the EU's borders.

A decision to open accession talks requires the unanimous approval of the bloc's 27 member countries, some of which have previously expressed doubts about whether Bosnia is close to meeting the criteria to begin negotiations.

EU leaders are expected to discuss the EU executive's recommendation at a summit in Brussels next week.

A decision to open talks would mark the start of a process likely to take many years as Bosnia would be required to implement more economic and democratic reforms to join the EU.

PROGRESS

After Bosnia secured the status of a candidate for membership in late 2022, rival ethnic leaders began taking EU-requested reforms more seriously.

Over the past year, they began passing laws relating to 14 priorities set out by the Commission, focusing on democracy and the functioning of the state, the rule of law, fundamental rights and reform of public administration.

"More progress has been achieved in just over a year than in over a decade," von der Leyen said in a written statement, adding that Bosnia was now fully aligned with EU foreign and security policy.

Since last September, Bosnia has passed long-delayed laws to crack down on money laundering and terrorism financing and to prevent conflicts of interest. It has also taken steps to improve migration management, approving negotiations on an agreement with EU border agency Frontex.

Other important laws, including on reforming courts and the election process, remain on hold.

Bosnian politicians welcomed the Commission´s recommendation but were cautious before a final decision is made by EU member states. (Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Andrew Gray and Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Alex Richardson and Timothy Heritage)