The European Union said Tuesday it will examine whether Bosnia has what it takes to become a member as the bloc continues with plans to expand just months after Britain decided to leave.

EU nations ordered the European Commission to establish whether Bosnia has earned candidate status, a process that could take a year.

A senior Slovak foreign ministry official, Ivan Korcok, said "this is a good day for Bosnia, but for us as well. We are showing that the enlargement strategy and approach to the aspiring countries works."

The Commission will now send a questionnaire to Bosnia seeking thousands of answers about its suitability to join.

It will assess Bosnia's economy, the state of democracy in the country, its adherence to the rule of law and human rights, and its ability to respect the obligations of membership.

"It is truly a historic moment" for Bosnia, Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic said, adding it was "particularly good news for the youth."

Bosnia has a brain drain problem as more than half of its young people dream of a better life in EU countries. To stop them from leaving, Bosnia's leaders have been working hard in the past 14 months on reforms that would create jobs and improve the standard of living.

Bosnia: the nation left behind Show all 18 1 /18 Bosnia: the nation left behind Bosnia: the nation left behind A women in the tram in Bascarjija, the old town in Sarajevo. ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind A volunteer is searching in lake Perucac in eastern Bosnia for remains of the victims of the genocide in Visegrad, where during the war in 1992 some 3000 Muslim men were killed by Bosnian-Serb forces and were thrown into the river ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind The remains of a serb mortar shell can be seen on the pavement in the city center of Sarajevo ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Potraits of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica can be seen in the office of the foundation "Srebrenica mothers" in Tuzla. Currently there are still estimated 3500 vistims of the genocide in Srebrenica missing. ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind The morgue in the forensic center of the ICMP , the international commission on missing persons, in Tuzla ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Scene during a live-concert of the balkan-ska Band "Kulturshock". ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Juso Mehanovic, a survivor of Srebrenica, in his house in the refugee camp in Spionica. ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind The skeletal remains of a victim of the genocide in Bosnia are to be seen in the forensic center of the ICMP ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Construction work is going on in a suburb of Sarajevo while many building still remain signed by the war. ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Two days before the mass funeral in Potocari for the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica, the coffins with the dead bodies are brought to the Memorial Center in Potocari in Trucks from Sarajevo ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Refugees in the refugee camp in Spionica ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind One day before the mass burial for the victims of the genocide of Srebrenica, a men mourns in the memorial room in Potocari ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind A volunteer is searching in lake Perucac in eastern Bosnia for remains of the victims of the genocide in Visegrad ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind A former mass grave in the area of Salasnica near Srebrenica ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind A potrait of Milos MIlanovic, a former soldier for the bosnian serb army, who lives in Srebrenica and denies that the genocide has taken place in Srebrenica. He instead claims the Muslims have killed themselves ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Scene on a public lake in the north-bosnian town of Tuzla. In Tuzla, serb, croats and muslims used to live together peacefully all the time throughout the war. It was one of the few big cities in Bosnia that remained under government control during the whole war ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Each year at the end of July, young people from both sides of Mostar, jump from the Stari Grad, the Old Bridge ANDY SPYRA Bosnia: the nation left behind Suhra Malic, a survivor of Srebrenica, has lost 2 sons due to the genocide ANDY SPYRA

"It is clear that these reforms are starting to show results," the EU envoy to Bosnia, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, said Monday. "We have seen the reduction of the level of unemployment and an increased growth," he said.

Bosnia's complex political system and the on-going quarrels between its Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats have prevented the country from moving faster and catching up with neighbouring countries on the EU path.

The country's economy was completely devastated by the 1992-95 war that took over 100,000 lives and turned nearly half of the population into refugees.