MP warns of brewing war in the Balkans

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns has warned that war in the Balkans may be “closer than ever”.

The MP for Rutland and Melton said she felt “deeply concerned” by reports of brewing momentum in the EU and the US that Bosnia and Herzegovina ought to be partitioned.

She warned that this decision would be “contrary entirely to the Dayton Peace Agreement” and could “in effect enshrine the results of the 1990s ethnic cleansing”.

“Conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not inevitable,” she stressed, but added that, “today we find ourselves closer than ever to conflict in the Balkans. We see the rise of hatred, division, sectarianism and the ugly beast of nationalism. We see fears rising and still-raw wounds being ripped open.”

“Now more than ever, Britain and we in this place must stand up and be counted,” she said as she called on the House to take steps to “prevent history from repeating itself”.

Milorad Dodik,the leader of the Republika Srpska province located in the north and east of the nation has been accused of placing “enormous strain” on the peace agreement and Ms Kearns lambasted his “shameful and insidious campaign of genocide denial and glorification of war criminals”.