B

Baroness Helic (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 3 April 2025

Debate

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Contribution

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?

More from Baroness Helic (Con)

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

Partner sites