Bosnia and Herzegovina

Commons Urgent Question

The following Answer to an Urgent Question was given in the House of Commons on Monday 31 March.

“I thank the right honourable Lady for her Question about an issue that is very important to the Government and to many Members across the whole House.

We strongly condemn the secessionist moves by Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, which seriously threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such actions are unconstitutional and dangerous, including to those living in Republika Srpska, whom he claims to protect. The UK, as one of the signatories, remains fully committed to the Dayton peace agreement, which protects the authorities of both entities, and supports Bosnia as a sovereign and politically independent state.

On Wednesday 26 February, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found Republika Srpska President Dodik guilty, in a first-instance ruling, of refusing to implement decisions of the high representative. The UK is clear that the high representative’s jurisdiction is indisputable, and that disregarding the independent decisions of the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina undermines the rule of law.

In response to the verdict, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted a number of unconstitutional laws, and proposed a new constitution in clear violation of the Dayton peace agreement. These moves represent a significant escalation in Dodik’s secessionist path, and threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state. As he accelerates those attacks on the state, he increases the threat to international peace and security.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has the institutions and mechanisms to respond to this crisis, and we support all efforts by domestic actors to de-escalate the situation and take appropriate action. Last week, I convened a call with my French counterpart and the other Quint partners—the United States, Germany and Italy—plus European Union institutions, in which we discussed our joint efforts to bolster security and stability. I also spoke to the high representative last week.

In the last few weeks, I have spoken to the Bosnian Foreign Minister, Elmedin Konaković, reaffirming the UK Government’s full support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The UK special envoy to the western Balkans, Dame Karen Pierce, reiterated that message during her visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 27 and 28 March, at our direction.

We welcome the decision by Operation Althea, under the EU peacekeeping mission EUFOR—the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina—to activate its reserve forces to provide reassurance to the communities most affected by the rising tensions.

In conclusion, Dodik’s actions do not serve the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including those residing in Republika Srpska. The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina need their political leaders to focus on passing reforms and building an inclusive future, rather than exacerbating tensions and amplifying secessionist rhetoric”.

11:59:00

My Lords, Britain has always been a steadfast supporter of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am pleased that the Government have continued that policy. Can the Minister update the House on the Government’s position on NATO membership for Bosnia and Herzegovina and whether we would support its application to join?

I thank the noble Lord for acknowledging that we continue in the way that his previous Government acted on this issue. On NATO membership, there is a great deal of work to do for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but we support that track in principle. We have been clear in our public statements and in our discussions with regional partners, including Minister Doughty’s calls with the Bosnian Foreign Minister on 10 March and with the high representative on 27 March, that the UK remains committed to supporting the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

My Lords, this issue is central to our national security interests, whether on immigration, organised crime or resisting Russian interference. I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, whose work has been bringing these concerns to the British public, which is extremely important. My question to the Development Minister is a development question; she will not be surprised that I ask it. The western Balkans freedom and resilience programme is now in its final year. It is a £31 million programme involving 20 local organisations all focused on supporting civil society, governance and resilience against interference, as well as building up social cohesion. Previously, I have asked the Minister for ODA programmes scored under official development assistance that are linked to our national security interests to be protected. Can the Minister state that there will be a future western Balkans freedom and resilience programme? If anything is critical to our wider security interests, it could be official development assistance in that area.

I echo the noble Lord’s comments about the noble Baroness, Lady Helic. Her work has kept this House focused on the western Balkans over many years. On ODA and protecting various streams of work, I wrote to the International Development Committee in the other place last week or the week before, explaining the process that we are undertaking. Very briefly, for the benefit of Members of this House, we are protecting anything we are currently contracted to. We are also protecting everything for this financial year in our humanitarian work. Everything else we are looking at on a case-by-case basis. I have been asked by the Prime Minister to look line by line at our spend. I am not in a position to protect any other streams of work or any particular programmes at this stage. Our desire is to create headroom to smooth out the spending reductions that will have to take place at the end of this financial year. That is the work we are currently undertaking. The noble Lord will understand that I am not in a position to make firm commitments today. That would be wrong. The work that he describes to do with security, particularly in the western Balkans, has proved to be effective and is incredibly important given the wider context in that region.

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their kind words. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s visit to the western Balkans, which concluded last night. He rightly stated that “the Western Balkans is of critical importance to the UK and Europe’s collective security, and the UK remains committed to building resilience and stability in the region”. With that in mind, Britain has now signed a deal with Serbia to disrupt people smuggling, an important step given the record number of channel crossings in the first three months of this year. These are fine words and fine agreements, but they will not be enough if secessionists with active support from Russia and Serbia succeed in breaking up Bosnia unchallenged, risking a new regional conflict. The Government have so far refused to move beyond rhetoric and support EUFOR, the only real deterrent on the ground. Does the United Kingdom intend to negotiate a post-Brexit agreement with the EU of the kind that Norway and Chile have in place, to enable our participation in Operation Althea in line with standard procedures for third-country contribution to NATO’s EU-led missions?

Since Brexit we have tried to work more and more closely with our EU partners, particularly on defence and security, for the reasons the noble Baroness has outlined. We are working closely to determine quite what form that takes. I am not in a position to say exactly what that will be, but we are in the business of resetting our deeply damaged relationship with the European Union. No one can be in any doubt, given the nature of the conversations that we have been having on this issue and on Ukraine, about our closeness and our collective determination that we must work more closely together in the future.

My Lords, we are living in a very vulnerable time when false narratives are being spread and some are not being challenged. I understand that Voice of America is not broadcasting in the way it was. Meanwhile, Russia is spreading false information and using its allies. This is at a time when there is a huge economic readjustment across the whole world and people are not looking so much to the West. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to ensure that the BBC World Service is making sure that a positive but accurate historical narrative is being given so that other narratives do not take hold?

That is a very important question in many contexts around the world, but specifically this one. I was pleased that we were able to protect and enhance the funding that we provide for the World Service recently. As has been said, it is a vital tool for connecting with communities in very difficult circumstances and countering some of the misinformation and disinformation and the hybrid warfare that takes place in contexts such as these. We will continue to work closely with the World Service. It is about not just providing information today but making sure we have the longer-term narrative and accurate information to look back, to know what has happened and to tell the story properly as the historical record.

Having served as a NATO peacekeeper in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I have a particular interest. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Dayton peace agreement. It was a complex agreement and has led to pretty poor political structures in Bosnia and not a strong state. This has been exploited by criminal gangs with people smuggling and other issues. High Representative Schmidt has made 11 interventions using the Bonn powers to amend the constitution, but fundamentally it remains unfit for purpose. Is it the British Government’s view that to enable EU accession, that constitution needs to be changed?

We support the role of the high representative and the use of his executive powers as the situation has required them. This role remains vital for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s future prosperity and stability. We are clear that the current political crisis was caused by Republika Srpska, President Dodik, his supporters and their secessionist actions. We will continue working to find the right way forward.

My Lords, will the Minister go a little further than she did in replying to the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, about peacekeeping in Bosnia and any role that the United Kingdom might play in that? Does she not agree that this ought to be on the table in discussion of the security pact currently being considered between the UK and the EU? A resumption of British involvement in that would be a very important signal.

We see EUFOR as vital for maintaining peace and security, and upholding the military aspects of the peace agreement. The UK regularly engages with the EU delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we are committed to supporting security through NATO and our bilateral defence co-operation. While the UK does not currently participate in any EU common security and defence policy missions, it is open to exploring future opportunities for co-operation.