Wigemark: More fighters in Syria from Gothenburg than from BiH

There is exaggeration in statements about the danger posed to Bosnia and Herzegovina by individuals returning from the battlefields in Syria and Iraq, said the Head of the European Union Delegation in BiH Lars-Gunnar Wigemark today in Banja Luka, emphasizing that there are definitely more such individuals in his hometown in Sweden than in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, writes Patria.

- There is publicly available, as well as intelligence data on the number of such individuals. As an example, I can state that there are more fighters on foreign battlefields from my hometown (Gothenburg) in Sweden than are coming from the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Wigemark said, responding to a question about the scale of the threat posed in BiH by individuals connected to terrorist organizations.

The Swedish diplomat emphasized that terrorism is a threat to everyone, and therefore the European continent must face it as a whole, and said that this was evident from the example of the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

- What has happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina are isolated cases, but regardless, they must be dealt with as a common problem - Wigemark said.

The Head of the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina assessed that "pointing fingers" only at some countries from the European family does not help in confronting the problem of terrorism.

Last week, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović stated in Dubrovnik that the fact that thousands of fighters are returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina from the armed group Islamic State of Iraq and Levant must be faced, which caused sharp criticism from Bosnian officials and the public.

Wigemark said that what is happening in Syria today is regrettable, particularly warning that it is a repeat of what happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war.

- We are talking about genocide - Wigemark said.