HC Deb 22 December 1988 vol 144 cc381-2W
Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to obtain from the Swedish Government the full text of the report handed to the Swedish ambassador by the USSR in 1957 of the alleged death of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave

We have the full text of the report given to the Swedish Government by the Soviet Government in 1957 about the fate of Raoul Wallenberg. The report claims that Mr. Wallenberg died in prison in 1947 of natural causes. We have pressed the Soviet Government to give a more detailed account of Mr. Wallenberg's fate, but they have consistently declined to add to the substance of the 1957 report.

Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to obtain from the Swedish Government as much information as is in their possession about the case of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave

We already have the limited information available to the Swedish Government on what befell Mr. Raoul Wallenberg. We have repeatedly pressed the Soviet authorities for a full account of Mr. Wallenberg's fate both bilaterally and in the CSCE.

Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions when he discussed the case of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg with the Governments of(a) Sweden, (b) Israel and (c) the United States of America since 1983; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave

We have discussed this case with Sweden regularly, most recently at the beginning of this year. We also keep in touch regularly with the United States Government, most recently when we both raised the issue in Vienna last month. We have not formally discussed the case with Israel in recent years as far as I can ascertain.

Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has requested the United States Government to raise the case of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg with the Soviet Government; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave

Such a request would be primarily a matter for the Swedish Government. We do keep in regular touch with the United States authorities about this case and know that the United States Government have raised it with the Soviet Government.

Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has requested the Swedish Government to raise the case of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg with the Soviet Government; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave

The Swedish Government naturally take the lead in efforts to establish Mr. Wallenberg's fate and already regularly raise his case with the Soviet authorities.