President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, stated that Baroness Arminka Helić—member of the British House of Lords and a Muslim from Bosnia and Herzegovina—misled readers in her Jerusalem Post op‑ed titled “No political persecution: Explaining a legal and constitutional crisis in Bosnia” on May 6. Dodik wrote a column for the Jerusalem Post in response, which he made public in full. Below is an accurate translation of his remarks into English:
to clarify for the readership how baroness helić manipulated facts and presented falsehoods in her op‑ed, i must first explain a few important biographical details. a muslim from bih who quickly rose in london from refugee status to chief of staff of the uk foreign secretary and ultimately to life peerage, claims to be highly skilled.
the british public regarded helić as having significant influence on foreign policy decisions of foreign secretary william haig during his term from 2010 to 2014. she served as his chief of staff, principal advisor, and some assessments even described their relationship as unusually close, though it was never confirmed. regardless of rumors, helić was undoubtedly among the key figures shaping british foreign policy during that period, which caused concern among some circles.
it was believed that her wartime trauma should not influence the foreign policy of the united kingdom. naturally, the british public today is not bothered by helić’s constant anti‑serb rhetoric, but her negative stance toward israel did cause confusion. it was said publicly that baroness helić personally advised haig to condemn israel’s interception of the turkish flotilla heading to gaza in may 2010. since hamas’ attack on israel on october 7, 2023, helić has repeatedly criticized israel’s actions in gaza.
however, despite her critical positions, she chose to publish this authored text in the jerusalem post—her first public text since assuming official roles. of course she did not use that opportunity to soften criticism toward israel; instead, she employed her anti‑serb rhetoric to present a series of untruths about republika srpska.
in an effort to win over readers, she attempted to downplay sarajevo antisemitism by distinguishing between the ustasha regime in the ndh during world war ii and bosnian muslims whom helić says helped jews more than persecuted them. that is a deliberate falsehood she propagated to jerusalem post readers. muslims during the ndh were part of this fascist puppet state headquartered in zagreb; together with croats, they participated in the killing and persecution of serbs, jews, and roma.
sarajevo muslims welcomed wehrmacht soldiers in 1941 with flowers as liberators, and ante pavelić declared them the “flower of the croatian people.” the deputy prime minister of ndh was a bosnian muslim, ademaga mešić, and džafar kulenović, also a muslim, served as the vice‑president of ndh.
during world war ii, sarajevo was an integral part of this fascist entity; all four mayors during that period were muslims. sarajevo jews who did not end up in death camps were forced to transfer their property to muslims or sell it cheaply to escape the occupied city.
helić omitted all this from her text. she deliberately ignored the presence from the start of muslim militias within the ustasha forces, which committed murders and expulsions. she also failed to mention the existence of the 13th waffen‑ss mountain division “handžar,” composed of bosnian muslims, whose founding and recruitment was personally overseen by muhammed amin al‑husseini, the grand mufti of jerusalem during world war ii.
she forgot to mention mustafa busuladžić, a founder of the pan‑islamist and pro‑fascist group “mladi muslimani,” responsible through his propaganda and antisemitism during ndh for the suffering of sarajevo serbs and jews. he was executed by communist authorities in 1945. today, a school and street in sarajevo bear his name.
this entire context was missing from helić’s denialist text, whose purpose was to erase suspicion of sarajevo antisemitism through historical revisionism. but as always, lies don’t hide for long. after just over a month, only sarajevo refuted baroness helić.
we have confirmed thriving antisemitism in that city when the muslim elite collectively opposed the european conference of rabbis (ecr) in the sarajevo swissotel, allegedly because they did not wish public expressions of support for israel. rabbi goldschmidt, head of the ecr, responded that sarajevo proclaimed itself a “city of openness and tolerance – for everyone, except jews.”
interestingly, the manager of swissotel who cancelled the conference was jasmina izetbegović, daughter of bakir izetbegović, president of the sda party and grandson of aliya izetbegović—the wartime muslim leader who was also a member of busuladžić’s pro‑fascist group.
today, the political elite in sarajevo openly oppose jews. since the gaza conflict erupted, their supporters in bih have sided with palestine and hamas, protesting with flags and symbols.
only days after hamas’ attack on israel, we saw indirect justification of terrorism from presidency member željko komšić, who attacked israel’s ambassador galit peleg for protesting his scandalous remarks.
do not forget that sarajevo denied hosting a commemoration exhibition on the anniversary of the october 7, 2023 attack, organized by the israeli embassy. republika srpska immediately arranged for the commemoration to be held at the national theatre in east sarajevo—once again demonstrating solidarity with our jewish brothers. sarajevo also refused to mark israel’s 76th founding anniversary in 2024, so we jointly organized the celebration in banja luka, the administrative center of republika srpska.
the ongoing iran conflict also drew predictable reactions from sarajevo. their religious leader, reis‑ul‑ulema hussein‑ef. kavazović, condemned israel’s alleged aggression against iran on day one.
this long introduction aims to provide jerusalem post readers with a clearer understanding of baroness helić’s profile and those of her compatriots from bih, so as to better grasp the political context.
her manipulation lies in attempting, through distortion of truth, to forge a hybrid solidarity between bosnian muslims and jews, and then to smear republika srpska with lies to elicit international condemnation.
helić claims that republika srpska adopted laws “reviving the serbian army,” which is a blatant falsehood. no such law was ever adopted. she also absolves the role of the illegitimate high representative christian schmidt – imposed without un security council authorization – whose interventions in laws and the constitution have triggered the worst crisis in bih since the signing of the dayton peace agreement.
by blaming republika srpska for all bih’s problems, helić simultaneously shifts focus away from the conspiratorial antisemitism flourishing in sarajevo, toward the serb people—revealing her animosity.
however, this incident with the ecr showed how sarajevo’s media, islamic community, and muslim politicians jointly acted against the umbrella body governing jewish life in europe.
we serbs suffered the same persecutions under the same perpetrators as our jewish brethren, which is why republika srpska immediately expressed solidarity with ecr and invited them to hold future events in banja luka—sending a clear message that europe has no room for hatred, antisemitism, and radicalism. unlike sarajevo, which clearly nurtures other values, republika srpska lives by true european values.
finally, baroness helić’s text carried yet another hidden motive: by spreading anti‑serb propaganda, she attempted to secure public support for future uk measures directed at republika srpska.
we strongly opposed the uk plan to turn bih into a reception center for illegal migrants from islamic countries expelled by the uk. republika srpska cannot accept delinquents, criminals, or islamic terrorists who might quickly connect in bih with domestic radical islamists, former mujahideen, the vehabi movement, ex-isil fighters, and other groups still active among bih muslims—posing existential and security threats to serbs and republika srpska.
today, intelligence estimates conceal how many illegal migrants in the uk and eu include former islamism fighters from syria, afghanistan, iraq, and other war zones. deporting them to bih to connect with local radicals, many returned from middle eastern battlefields, is simply unacceptable.
because of our resolute stance that bih will not host illegal migrants from the uk for these reasons, we anticipate increasing pressure, potential sanctions, hybrid actions, and ongoing demonization of the serb people and republika srpska—cruelly carried out even by baroness helić.
Source: RTRS
