Bosnia (Hansard, 4 May 1994)

§ 4. Dr. Goodson-Wickes
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations he has had over future United Nations operations in Bosnia in the light of recent events.

§ The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Douglas Hurd)
I am in regular touch with colleagues in the Security Council and NATO, and with those from other troop-contributing countries, about the UN operation in Bosnia, now and in the future. We are also working with close allies and with the Russians to step up the search for a permanent and negotiated settlement.

§ Dr. Goodson-Wickes
Does my right hon. Friend agree that although the British Government reacted in an exemplary way to General Rose's request for more troops in Bosnia, the same could hardly be said for other countries? Given that strong moral position, are not the Government well placed to urge for a more positive way forward for the United Nations in future, possibly including a redefinition of the UN mandate?

§ Mr. Hurd
There has been some progress since we took the initiative in New York by supporting the Secretary-General's appeal for more troops; he wanted 10,600 more troops to police the Sarajevo and central Bosnian ceasefires. Early responses amounted to undertakings to provide 8,500 troops, and 2,500 new troops are already in theatre including, as my hon. Friend said, 905 from the United Kingdom. Others have come from France, Spain, Russia and the Ukraine, so there is progress. We should certainly like it to be faster, and now that the United States has permitted the Security Council to lift the financial barrier, I hope that those who have promised troops will bring them forward quickly, and that those who have not promised troops will consider doing so.

§ Mr. Wareing
Has the Secretary of State had time to consider General Rose's remarks about the way in which we were all misled about the amount of destruction in Gorazde, and about the casualty list? We are told that some of the so-called casualties used the lift to Sarajevo simply to gain their freedom. Is not it time that the right hon. Gentleman spoke to the media experts, who for the most part reside in Sarajevo and keep telling us everything that comes through the propaganda machine of Sarajevo's Muslim-controlled radio?

§ Mr. Hurd
General Rose has objected to the way in which some off-the-record remarks were picked up by a certain newspaper. I would not advise the hon. Gentleman to give too much credence to the report in question.

§ Mr. Oppenheim
Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the fact that although we all deplore the actions of the Serbs, many of those who now urge us take tougher action would be the first to turn against the Government as soon as a British soldier was killed, the aid effort was impeded or a Serbian school was accidentally bombed? If the policies of many of those Johnny-come-lately, get-tough-from-afar proponents of action had been implemented in the past we should have been left without the troops to carry out our present policy. Does my right hon. Friend accept that most of my hon. Friends and I feel that, in immensely difficult circumstances, his has been the best possible policy?

§ Mr. Hurd
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. That was a rare tribute on this subject, and I am the more grateful for it because of that. We have certainly been prudent and have asked practical questions about any proposal for the deployment of troops. When we have been satisfied on the basis of professional advice that a measure is justified on the ground, we have been among the first to contribute. As my hon. Friend says, that is in contrast to the attitude of some people, especially some commentators, who have been anxious to urge everybody forward but who bear no responsibility for the consequences.

§ Dr. Howells
Given the reports of a considerable build-up of Bosnian Serb forces in the Posavina corridor in north-east Bosnia, will the Secretary of State press for an immediate preventive deployment of UNPROFOR troops in that area, backed up by adequate air cover, to act as a deterrent to what in the context of Macedonia he has described as adventurism, by the Serbs or by anyone else in the Sava valley?

§ Mr. Hurd
I am worried about the Posavina corridor, as are our allies. Brcko is occupied by the Serbs, but Muslim troops surround it and the corridor is very narrow. We are doing our best, both in New York and on the ground, to prevent a further flare-up in that corridor.