Member of the European Parliament Tineke Strik has completed a three-day working visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of a fact-finding mission organized by the EP rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ondřej Kolář. The mission focused on gathering information and evaluating the current situation in the country.

“While I am always glad to visit this beautiful country and am grateful by the warm welcome by the institutions, politicians and civil society, the conclusion I take home is less positive. The country is confronted with a deep security crisis due to the continuous illegal actions of Milorad Dodik. This risks turning into a rule of law crisis if he is not arrested swiftly. It is therefore crucial that EUFOR stands ready to protect SIPA during Dodik's arrest. This should be an operational decision, as it is clearly within the EUFOR mandate”, Strik stated.

She stressed that the “appeasement politics” that led to the current situacion in the country shoould be abandoned “for good”.

“It is clear that the country is held in a tight grip by the ethno-nationalistic corrupted elite that has a sole interest to preserve its own power. A strong and clear role by the EU is thus needed to promote the interests of the citizens and ensure full and uncompromised implementation of all ECtHR verdicts. The international community, including EU, need to increase financial and political support to civil society and journalists, who are confronted with extreme pressure as the front line defenders of democracy in BiH. This is the only path that brings us to the true democracy and EU path that the citizens so much desire”, she added.