§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he intends to raise the result of the independence referendum held in Lithuania with the Security Council of the United Nations or with the Council for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggNo. We do not believe discussion in the United Nations Security Council would provide an answer to the problem. We raised the Baltic issue at meetings of the CSCE in Vienna and Valletta in January.176W With our partners in the European Community, we have invoked the CSCE human dimension mechanism. The mechanism enables CSCE states to raise human rights questions directly with the state concerned.
§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has been in contact with European Community Foreign Ministers to discuss the outcome of the independence referendum in Lithuania; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met his EC colleagues in Luxembourg on 19 February for a European political co-operation ministerial meeting. The situation in the Soviet Union and the Baltic republics was among the subjects discussed. We have noted the outcome of the Lithuanian referendum with interest, and hope that genuine negotiations will now take place about the way forward.
§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will grant recognition to the republic of Lithuania following the outcome of the independence referendum held in Lithuania on 9 February; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggNo. Lithuania does not fulfil the well-established criteria that we have applied to the recognition of a state. These are that it should have, and seem likely to continue to have, a clearly defined territory with a population, a Government who are able of themselves to exercise control of that territory, and independence in its external relations. However, we recognise and support the wish of the Lithuanian people to determine their own future. We believe that the way forward is through peaceful negotiations between the Soviet authorities and the elected Lithuanian authorities.
§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to or received from President Landsbergis of Lithuania, President Gorbachev of the USSR, the embassy of the USSR in London and the Lithuanian Association in London, following the result of the independence referendum in Lithuania.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe have received no representations on this specific question. We are in frequent contact with the Soviet authorities, and with the authorities of the Baltic republics, over developments there.
§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to meet his European Community counterparts; and if he will raise the question of how the European Community should respond to the outcome of the independence referendum held in Lithuania.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met his EC colleagues in Luxembourg on 19 February for a European political co-operation ministerial meeting. The situation in the Soviet Union and the Baltic republics was among the subjects discussed. We have noted the outcome of the Lithuanian referendum with interest, and hope that genuine negotiations will now take place about the way forward.