Bosnia and Herzegovina

Baroness Gill Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gill (Lab)]

I join the chorus of congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, on bringing about this important debate. Bosnia and Herzegovina faces its gravest political turmoil since the Dayton accords, as the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Peach, and the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, amply highlighted. We are witnessing active threats to its territorial integrity, deliberate institutional paralysis and a genuine danger of renewed conflict.

As the outgoing high representative recently warned the UN Security Council, we face an ongoing crisis of political responsibility driven by Republika Srpska’s leadership’s deliberate attempts to deconstruct state-level institutions. Unbelievably, there are accounts of persistent genocide denial, 30 years after the war that our country and the then Labour Government played a pivotal part in resolving.

The current crisis is worsened by a fractured western policy. Western allies are divided over appointing a new high representative. Meanwhile, a dramatic shift in US policy has lifted sanctions on Milorad Dodik. In this vacuum, Russia and China are expanding their influence, exemplified by NATO partner Serbia actively buying Chinese missiles. Western policy must shift from reactive crisis management to a long-term strategy. The UK, as others have said, must lead the Euro-Atlantic response. The borders must not change. We need a credible NATO guarantee, alongside a strengthening of EUFOR Operation Althea, which currently sits at just 1,500 troops.

I believe that the UK Government, as others have said, must act on two immediate priorities. First, ahead of the October 2026 election, the UK must urgently negotiate a third-country participation agreement with the EU to deploy British troops directly into EUFOR. This is a critical opportunity to prove the UK-EU strategic capacity to act independently of the US. Secondly, I draw the Minister’s attention to the fact that the Government must urgently address indefensible foreign lobbying within our own borders. Under the foreign influence registration scheme, former British diplomats and political figures are actively paid by the Republika Srpska Government to lobby our own Ministers on behalf of an entity which leaders of the UK have explicitly sanctioned for destabilising the region. This is totally unacceptable. We must enforce accountability, strengthen our security posture and stand firmly with the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.