§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent visits to(a) Serbia, (b) Macedonia and (c) Albania; what assessment he made of the Albanian government's cooperation with the IMF and World Bank; and what representations he made regarding the treatment of Albanians in Kosovo and the Albanian minority in Macedonia. [31960]
§ Mr. Tony LloydI visited(a) the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 1–2 February, where I met FRY Foreign Minister Jovanovic and the Montenegrin President Djukanovic; (b) the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 2–4 February, where I met President Gligorov, Prime Minister Crvenkovski, Foreign Minister Handziski and opposition leaders, and chaired an EU Political Dialogue meeting with the FYROM 321W Government; and (c) Albania on 4–5 February, where I held meetings with Prime Minister Nano, Foreign Minister Milo and the opposition leader Dr. Berisha.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited the FRY on 5 March in his capacity as Presidency of the EU and met FRY President Milosevic and Foreign Minister Jovanovic.
I made a further visit to the region on 11 March as EU Presidency Special Representative. I visited (a) the FRY where I met Serbian President Milutinovic and FRY Foreign Minister Jovanovic; (b) the FYROM where I again met President Gligorov, Prime Minister Crvenkovski and Foreign Minister Handziski; and (c) Albania where I met Foreign Minister Milo and the Minister of State at the Prime Ministry Islami.
The Albanian Government are implementing an emergency package agreed with the IMF to restructure Government finances. The pyramid schemes are being wound down under the auspices of a World Bank Trust Fund.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in his meetings in Belgrade expressed the EU's clear condemnation of the Serbian Police actions in Kosovo which had resulted in the deaths of a number of civilians, including women and children. He urged all sides in the dispute to exercise restraint and refrain from further violence. During my own visit to Belgrade on 11 March I reiterated the EU's deep concern with the situation in Kosovo. In Tirana and Skopje I listened to the concerns of the Albanian and FYROM governments and welcomed their support for a peaceful resolution of the Kosovo issue.