Bosnia and Herzegovina

Lord Lemos Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Lemos) (Lab)]

My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, for securing this debate, and I appreciate the discussions that we have had in advance of it. Not only has she secured this debate but she has kept the western Balkans, particularly Bosnia, front of mind for all of us, and we are deeply in her debt for that.

I thank all noble Lords for their contribution to this important and rich debate; I am painfully aware that I am in very distinguished company. Inevitably on these occasions, you do not have enough time to namecheck everyone, as I am sure noble Lords understand, but I will try to do so where I can. There are some specific points that I will try to address, but I fear I will not be able to do justice to them, so I will read Hansard carefully and write to all the participants in the debate about those points.

As a number of noble Lords have said, for over 30 years the Dayton peace agreement has underpinned peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That framework continues to provide the basis for stability. As the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Peach, said, we would have been surprised to imagine that it was still the framework after 30 years, but it is. It is the best framework, and it is the one to which the Government remain committed. However, stability cannot be taken for granted. I want to make some remarks about destabilisation, as indeed a number of noble Lords have already done.

Over the past two years, Bosnia and Herzegovina has experienced political crisis and sustained deadlock, characterised by challenges to state institutions, divisive rhetoric and an obstruction of political process. Tensions are rising again ahead of October elections with secessionist rhetoric, Islamophobia, ethnically divisive narratives and continued institutional blockages. A number of your Lordships have referenced all those points and we all acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. The noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, drew our attention to that.

We remain deeply concerned by the actions and rhetoric of the Republika Srpska, which a number of noble Lords have referenced, and its leadership, but we are also concerned by proposals for constitutional fragmentation, including calls for a so-called third entity, which risks destabilisation. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Peach, my noble friend Lord Robertson, the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and, I think, the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, used the word spillover. We are very bothered about that.

Let me be completely clear with your Lordships’ House: the United Kingdom is committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As I have said, we support Dayton as the foundation for peace and stability; I do not want to leave any doubts in your Lordships’ minds about that. We are working closely with international partners through the Peace Implementation Council, and we will continue to pursue the 5+2 agenda.

Let me say a few words about the high representative, which a number of noble Lords have mentioned. Dayton mandates a high representative to uphold its civilian aspects and safeguard the constitutional order—the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, reminded us of Lord Ashdown’s role in all this. In parallel, EUFOR upholds military aspects. The UN Security Council has affirmed the role of both, and the view of the UK Government remains that they are entirely indispensable.

We support the high representative. We want to see someone of independence and integrity—if I can use the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Helic—including, where necessary, the ability to use the Bonn powers as a safeguard to protect state institutions and ensure the peace settlement is respected. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, reinforced, as did the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, the importance of the high representative, and I entirely agree. That is a central plank and I am sorry that we have not got to the point of an appointment yet. We could have had a slightly different debate if we had, but it is good to have it anyway. Nevertheless, we recognise the urgent need for a smooth transition, and we are hoping, as the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, will know, for something by 30 June.

We will continue to actively engage partners in Europe and across the Peace Implementation Council to ensure rapid agreement on a successor high representative who has the right credentials with all the communities in Bosnia and is fully empowered by the Bonn powers to carry out their mandate effectively, in the interests of everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Completion of the 5+2 agenda, as I have said, remains essential before the office of the high representative can close. We do not want to see any timeline set for it; that mandate must continue. Those conditions are a benchmark for a Bosnia and Herzegovina that is irreversibly secure, stable and sovereign. We are not there yet.

The noble and gallant Lord put his finger, as always, on exactly the key question: what then is adequate support? I want to set out for your Lordships what the UK Government are doing. Your Lordships may not agree that it is adequate—I suspect they will not, at least in part—but it is important that I set it out clearly. We are taking practical steps to support stability, resilience and reform. We are building on our leadership of the Berlin process last year, which I hope is reassurance and testament to the UK’s continued commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is the first thing I would like to say.

The second matter, which several noble Lords have pointed to, is the appointment of Dame Karen Pierce as the special envoy in March 2025. My noble friend Lord Robertson mentioned it in succession to the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Peach, and I pay tribute to his distinguished work. We are stepping up our efforts to tackle violence against women and girls in Bosnia. The noble Baronesses, Lady Goudie and Lady Anelay, and the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, all mention the importance of this, including through work on preventing sexual violence in conflict and championing survivor-centred approaches, accountability and regional co-operation. We are delighted that Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of both the international alliance for preventing sexual violence in conflict, and a new coalition to tackle violence against women and girls, launched by the Foreign Secretary at the Global Partnerships Conference.

The noble Lord, Lord Callanan, asked me about our commitment to Srebrenica. I must say that Srebrenica was one of the most soul-searing experiences of recent years, and the Government are absolutely committed to making sure that it is remembered in the appropriate way; I want to make that clear. We welcome progress on rolling out election technology to reduce fraud, and we are also supporting programmes to build institutional resilience and, importantly, as a number of noble Lords have mentioned, counter disinformation from hostile actors.

The noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, asked me about how much we are spending. We are committing £37 million to work in the region of the western Balkans over the next three years. When I write to the noble Baroness, I will be happy to give additional details about how that is made up. Russia continues to seek to undermine stability, challenge Dayton, undermine the legitimacy of the High Representative and exploit divisions. We are taking actions to challenge destabilising actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina itself, including through our sanctions programme, and to uphold the country’s integrity.

Other noble Lords, including the noble Lords, Lord Ahmad and Lord Callanan, asked me about where we are on sanctions, and I am happy to make that clear. The UK has imposed sanctions on individuals undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional order, including Milorad Dodik and his allies. We continue to co-ordinate sanctions activities with our international partners to maximise collective impact, though we may not always agree on precise designations nor take identical action.

I have two minutes left, but I will do my best. As the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, encouraged us to do, we are seeking to tackle the long-term structural drivers of instability, and we are concerned about atrocity crimes. I say sorry to the noble Lord, Lord Alton: it is always very unsatisfactory to give these one-line answers on complicated problems, but he will appreciate my problem and I promise to write in more detail.

Last but not least, I will directly address the question that I have been asked by several of your Lordships about defence and security co-operation. The UK has provided over £2 million in defence and security assistance since 2021. This includes military training and education and support for defence reform, helping to strengthen the capacity of the Bosnia and Herzegovina armed forces. We have a lot of experience in this area, as noble Lords know, and interoperability with NATO. We continue to support the EUFOR peacekeeping mission, as the noble Lords, Lord Soames and Lord Hannay, asked us to do, including by acting to safeguard its annual renewal by the UN Security Council. We remain very committed to that, and we remain in close contact with our EU, NATO and other partners regarding the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The UK is a major contributor to NATO’s strategic reserve forces covering the western Balkans; we have 600 troops on the ground. I am not seeking to deny the fact that noble Lords would like us to do more, and a number have mentioned the questions around the third-party participation agreement. But that is where we are for the moment.

Finally, I reassure your Lordships that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a peripheral concern. The months ahead will be really significant and the United Kingdom remains a committed partner. We will, as the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, asked, stay engaged.