Pakistanis taking advantage of rise of Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina: EU member
Sep 23, 2020
Brussels [Belgium], September 24 : The Pakistanis are taking the full advantage of the rise in the influence of Islam and jihadi fighters returning back to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country which is already facing political instability, the EU Chronicle quoted Dominique Bilde, Member of European Parliament (MEP), as saying.
Raising concerns over the recent fraudulent visa scheme in Pakistan, the MEP said that it is a country having "religious extremism".
"In May, according to the Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, the Ministry of Security uncovered a huge fraudulent visa scheme, which involved the Bosnian ambassador to Pakistan, who had allegedly issued 3,000 suspicious visas," Bilde was quoted by EU Chronicle as saying.
She further said, "Similar allegations had been leveled against the Bosnian embassy to Iraq, located in Jordan. Whatever the truth behind these cases, they have added fuel to the suspicions that have been dogging the country lately."
"It seems that some disreputable individuals from Pakistan mixed with the migrant crowd. This, of course, is hardly a surprise coming from a country whose hallmark seems to be the most strident kind of religious extremism, as evidenced by the Pakistani Prime Minister's extolling Osama Bin Laden as a "martyr" or the recent controversy surrounding the Charlie Hebdo trial," she said.
Urging the EU to take strict action against Pakistan, the MEP said, "The responsibility of the European Union can no longer be overlooked. In terms of bilateral cooperation, 603 million Euros were made available to Pakistan between 2014 and 2020, in spite of the country still being listed as part of the Financial Action Task Force's jurisdictions under increased monitoring to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter "money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing" since June 2018."