“Good afternoon. I am privileged to be here. I accept the award not because I deserve it, but as a promise that I will continue to fight. The conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not inevitable, but for all of us here it does not seem so. I do not apologize for being emotional, but this is also a sign of my determination and my privilege to be here.
Because you in this room are the heroes of peace, Waqar, Vanja and all of you who fight for the campaign. This morning I woke up to images of Novi Pazar and places like it, torches and fire, nationalism and songs celebrating genocide and ethnic cleansing. They have only one goal, which is to threaten and intimidate Bosniaks, and we must not support that. We are making some progress, and I am glad that the British Government has led this, but it is still not enough. We now have Stuart Peach as an ambassador. We have Christian Schmidt coming to the UK after my call, to show that we stand behind him, that we stand behind the Dayton Agreement.
Parliament spoke out in December and unanimously agreed that there was genocide in Srebrenica and stated that we stand by our obligations under the Dayton Agreement. I want you to know that I will make sure that we do that, and I trust that all parliamentarians will do that.
This week there will be a NATO meeting in Brussels to talk to Russia. It is also an opportunity for NATO allies to come together and talk about Bosnia and Herzegovina. We need to impose sanctions on Dodik, as the USA did last week. We need to see increased NATO deployment, especially in the Brčko District.
We must put pressure on Russia and Serbia and we must prevent Republika Srpska from raising money on the London Stock Exchange. We have to stick to the Dayton Accords and I believe we can do that. I was a child when the genocide happened, but I know that it is not history, because when I visited Bosnia for the first time in 2016, I met Majke. I attended funerals and went to places where bones are still collected. I know this is real. And today you spoke up and showed how real this is. This is not history and the losses are real. But what always moves me deeply is the strength of the survivors. The strength of all of you and the Bosnian community is that we refuse to be silenced, we refuse to be intimidated and we refuse not to stand up for decency, goodness and peace. My position is very simple that the UK has a duty and we must stand behind that duty. Never need to mean anything again. This award is a great honor, but it is a promise and determination, we will be with you and I want you to know that Parliament is behind you. You have great representatives, Waqar, Vanja, and everyone here at Bosanska House.
But there is work to be done, and we can stop the conflict only if we stand together. Thank you to everyone who came to the unity rallies, we must stand together and please know that Parliament is with you all the way. Thank you very much”.
ALICIA KEARNS MP, CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENTARY GROUP FOR BIH
