§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What recommendations are made by the European Union Observer on the Cyprus problem, M Serge Abou, in his June 1994 report to the European Union Foreign Ministers, and what steps they consider should now be taken by the European Union to secure progress on the Secretary General's confi-dence building measures.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyMr. Abou's report in question made no specific recommendations. On the basis of it the Commission informed the Council on 13/14 June of recent developments in United Nations efforts towards implementation of the UN Secretary General's package of Confidence Building Measures. The Council noted that the UN were continuing to work towards securing agreement, and that the UN Secretary-General would be reporting to the UN Security Council again soon. The Council agreed to monitor the situation and to discuss it again at Corfu at the EU summit meeting on 24/25 June.
§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What options are presented by the United Nations Secretary General in his report on his mission of good offices in Cyprus (S/1994/629 of 30 May 1994) for consideration by the Security Council, and which option is preferred by the Government.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyIn his report of 30 May, the United Nations Secretary General suggested a range of options for the UN Security Council to examine. These were:
- (a) To conclude that, after 30 years of endeavour, it had become evident that there was no political will for a negotiated settlement, and that scarce UN peacekeeping resources should be redirected to other disputes and conflicts where there might be a greater chance of success.
WA 44 - (b) To conclude that a good offices mission, which by its nature is dependent on the consent and co-operation of the parties, was not an adequate method to deal with a situation in which, for the past several years, one side had consistently flouted the wishes of the international community. This would imply the adoption of coercive measures against that side.
- (c) To put the package of Confidence Building Measures on one side for the moment and to try to make progress by resuming discussion of the questions of substance, on the basis of the Set of Ideas and the map that were presented to the parties in July 1992.
- (d) For all concerned to undertake a fundamental and far-reaching reflection of how to approach the Cyprus problem in a manner that would yield results.
- (e) To build on the fact that both sides have accepted in principle the package of Confidence Building Measures and to renew the international community's efforts to obtain agreement on their implementation.
There have been a number of developments since 30 May. The UN Secretary General is expected to present an updated report shortly. We will consider all the options further, with other members of the Security Council, in the light of that.