The Bosnian Muslim who steered Westminster on an anti-Serb path

March 11, 2015

Serbian media reports that the Westminster’s uncompromising advocacy of independence for Kosovo is due in large part to Bosnian Muslim Arminka Helić.

Helić, a refugee from Žepa in today’s Republika Srpska, Bosnia arrived to the UK in the 1990s and quickly rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party to become a trusted foreign policy adviser. So much so that today she is effectively Chief of Staff for William Hague who served Foreign Secretary from 2010-2014. She has been rewarded with the title Baroness Helić and becomes only the third Conservative female Muslim peer in the House of Lords.

Oxford academic and author Mark Almond notes:

“One of Hague’s most influential advisers is Arminka Helić, a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina. And as so often happens, refugees – people who are forced to leave – go with a frozen image of the country they leave behind. I think one of William Hague’s problems is that he receives an image of the Balkans as it was 15 years ago, not what it is today. I believe that Hague and the politicians who make the final decision in London not moved on from what happened during the war and the breakup of Yugoslavia.”

The Daily Mail noted in 2011 that £70,000-a-year Helić was known for her strong pro-Bosnian views. Lobbyist Tim Collins sold his serves to undercover reporters by claiming he could gain special access to Helić, clearly placing huge weight on her influence within Hague’s camp. However, he did call her a Serb which does imply he barely knows her.

Serbian press notes that Helić is noted as a lobbyist for Haris Silajdžić, the Bosnian Muslim member of the Presidency of BiH. She also has close ties with Paddy Ashdown, the former International High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both Helić and Ashdown have close links with Sanela Jenkins, the wife of a wealthy English banker, who passed bail to Ejup Ganić in London pending trial.

Helić and Hague previously had lunch with Silajdžić in Sarajevo in 2008, along with a delegation from the Conservative Party. Helić finished her studies at Oxford and is alleged to have influenced Hague as far back as 2006 when he switched policy from support for Israel in favour of Palestine.

When Helić took her place in the House of Lords in November 2014, she was watched by a special supporter from the gallery – Angelina Jolie. In this BBC interview, Helić credits herself with bringing Jolie’s infamously anti-Serb movie ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ to Hague saying ‘you have to watch this movie’.

not mine.credit and source: E BRITIC