HC Deb 14 February 1997 vol 290 cc336-7W
Mr. David Atkinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy towards the independence movements in(a) Chechnya, (b) Abkhazia, (c) Nagorno-Kharabakh and Trans-dnestr; and if he will make a statement. [15603]

Sir Nicholas Bonsor

We subscribe fully to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe principle that frontiers are inviolable and can only be changed peacefully and by agreement. Any change in the status of the four regions mentioned would have to be mutually agreed with the authorities of the countries concerned. We do not believe that the right to self-determination equates automatically to a right to secession.

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