HC Deb 14 July 1998 vol 316 cc184-6
13. Mrs. Ann Winterton (Congleton)

If he will make a statement on the situation in Kosovo. [48713]

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Robin Cook)

The situation in Kosovo remains tense and there is a real risk of further deterioration, unless there is serious political dialogue between both sides.

We continue to work with our contact group colleagues to broker dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, with our European partners to monitor the behaviour of security forces, with the Red Cross and the United Nations to support refugees, and with our NATO allies to deter military offensives against centres of civilian population. The quicker that President Milosevic accepts that there must be meaningful autonomy for Kosovo, the better will be the prospects for a negotiated solution.

Mrs. Winterton

Bearing in mind the imperative of preventing Kosovo from declining into a second Bosnia, will the Foreign Secretary say what concrete progress the British Government and the European Union have made in the pressure exerted so far on the Serbian president, Mr. Milosevic? Does he believe that other leaders, especially perhaps President Yeltsin of the Russian Federation, can play a constructive part in helping to achieve a politically brokered solution in Kosovo?

Mr. Cook

The hon. Lady asks about the practical steps that we have taken. We have imposed an arms embargo, a visa ban and an export credit moratorium; we have frozen the funds held abroad by both Serbia and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia Government; and we have now introduced a ban on flights by the Serbian airlines. If the hon. Lady has any ideas to add to that list, we would willingly accept them.

I understand what the hon. Lady says about President Yeltsin. We welcome the offer made by President Milosevic to him. Sadly, the evidence to date is that President Milosevic is not honouring even the commitments that he made to President Yeltsin.

Mr. Ben Bradshaw (Exeter)

Does my right hon. Friend believe that the Government's policy of limited autonomy for Kosovo is still tenable, given that months of Serb aggression in that province mean that a growing majority of Kosovars will settle for little less than full independence?

Mr. Cook

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that, if President Milosevic had responded to our urging three months ago to enter into negotiations for meaningful autonomy, we might well have been able to achieve a solution which, frankly, might have been more acceptable in Belgrade than anything that is likely to be agreed now. However, we have to be extremely careful about endorsing any demand for independence, because of the wider impact on the region. If we concede independence in Kosovo, how do we resist those who are demanding independence for the Republika Srpska in Bosnia, which would defeat both the Government's policy and that of the previous Administration?

Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)

Ultimately, will not self-determination be the only democratic road to peace? As the Government believe in self-determination as the correct justification for our role in the Falkland Islands and for the majority will to prevail in Northern Ireland, how can they set their face against self-determination as a potential cure for the insidious conflict that prevails in Kosovo?

Mr. Cook

If the hon. Gentleman wishes to take a stand on democracy, let me remind him that, only two months ago, Dr. Rugova was re-elected by the overwhelming majority of the Kosovo people in a ballot that the Kosovo Liberation Army urged them to ignore and despite a boycott that they chose to ignore. Dr. Rugova and those around him have repeatedly made it clear that they are willing to enter into negotiations without precondition.

Ms Rachel Squire (Dunfermline, West)

I share my right hon. Friend's concern that any move towards independence for Kosovo could lead to greater ethnic-based conflicts in Europe. Following a previous question, does he agree that every effort must be made to persuade Russia that it is in its best interests to end the continued conflict in Kosovo, that it has a crucial role to play in achieving a peace settlement and that, in the long term, peace and prosperity for the Russian people and for Europe can best be achieved by Russia and NATO working in partnership?

Mr. Cook

I assure my hon. Friend that we lose no opportunity to urge those views on Russia. Russia well understands that its own interests in the Balkans will not be served by supporting one regime that is increasingly isolated there.

Mr. Michael Howard (Folkestone and Hythe)

On 10 March, the Foreign Secretary said that President Milosevic had been given 10 days to withdraw paramilitary forces from Kosovo. On 7 April, he said: we are determined that Belgrade should stop behaving as it is in Kosovo".—[Official Report, 7 April 1998; Vol. 310, c. 146.] On 8 June, he said: Mr. Milosevic should back down and he should back down now. This is his last warning. Given the continuing deterioration in Kosovo, which is of deep concern to us all, has the Foreign Secretary yet learned the futility of empty threats?

Mr. Cook

If the right hon. and learned Gentleman looks at what has happened in Kosovo since 8 June, he will find that President Milosevic has not returned to the major military offensive that he was conducting then, which rendered 50,000 people homeless in a single week. If the right hon. and learned Gentleman really wants progress in Kosovo—and I am not clear from his question whether he does—he should not suggest to President Milosevic that the warnings of NATO and the Contact Group of the United Nations are empty threats.