§ Mr. AncramTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether representatives of his Department will attend the meeting on 7 and 8 November between Foreign Ministers of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community in Maputo, Mozambique; and if he will make a statement; [77302]
543W(2) what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Denmark concerning the decision to move the meeting on 7 to 8 November between Foreign Ministers of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community from Copenhagen to Maputo, Mozambique; and if he will make a statement; [77358]
(3) when his Department was informed of the decision to move the meeting on 7 and 8 November between Foreign Ministers of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community from Copenhagen to Maputo, Mozambique; whether his Department was consulted; what his assessment of the situation was; what advice he gave to other European Union countries concerning the decision; whether he agreed to the relocation; and if he will make a statement; [77301]
(4) what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the countries of the Southern African Development Community concerning the attendance of Zimbabwean officials at the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community (a) when it was scheduled to take place in Copenhagen and (b) since it was moved to Maputo, Mozambique; and if he will make a statement; [77312]
(5) what his Department's policy is on the attendance of representatives of the Zimbabwean Government, targeted under the European Union's travel ban, at the meeting on 7 to 8 November between Foreign Ministers of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community in Maputo, Mozambique; what his policy was on their attendance at the meeting when scheduled for Copenhagen; whether other international meetings have been relocated during 2002 to enable members of the Zimbabwean Government to attend; and if he will make a statement. [77357]
§ Mr. StrawThe biennial EU-SADC ministerial meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Copenhagen on 7 to 8 November. In recent months, EU partners have regularly discussed the timing and location of this meeting in order to ensure there it remains coherent with wider EU policy, including targeted sanctions against named individuals in the ZANU (PF) regime.
The EU presidency—on behalf of the EU—expressed EU concerns in a series of meetings with Governments in the SADC region in August. In September, recognising that a meeting could no longer go ahead in Copenhagen as originally planned, Mozambique offered to host the meeting in Maputo on behalf of SADC. The EU decided on 17 October to accept the offer. The UK fully supported this decision.
The EU's relationship with SADC is important and wide-ranging. The Government have always made clear that a meeting should take place, but that the integrity of the EU's targeted sanctions on named Zimbabweans should be maintained. The Government will use the meeting to engage SADC countries on a range of issues. As a member of SADC, Zimbabwe is likely to attend the meeting. There are no plans for British Ministers to meet 544W their Zimbabwean counterparts at Maputo. We are not aware of other international meetings having been relocated in 2002.