HL Deb 31 July 1998 vol 592 cc304-5WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made in Kosovo in implementing the Moscow Agreement of 16 June and any subsequent agreements, with particular regard to:

  1. (a) the ending of repressive action against civilians;
  2. (b) Serb-Kosovan political negotiations, including the subject of autonomy for Kosovo;
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  3. (c) the return of all refugees, including those internally displaced;
  4. (d) free access for international humanitarian organisations and for aid supplies;
  5. (e) renewed membership of the Organisations for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for Yugoslavia and access for an OSCE Peace Mission;
and, if little progress has been made, what action by international organisations (including NATO) is proposed; and when the next meeting of the Kosovo Contact Group will take place. [HL2817]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

On 8 July, the contact group meeting in Bonn assessed that, while there had been some limited progress, particularly in access for humanitarian organisations, Belgrade needed to take further action to implement fully the undertakings made by President Milosevic in Moscow on 16 June and the requirements of the contact group.

The contact group on 8 July and the EU General Affairs Council on 13 July called for an immediate cessation of hostilities to pave the way for a dialogue on the future status of Kosovo. To date, neither side has heeded this call.

EU Troika Political Directors are visiting Belgrade and Pristina on 28–30 July and will press for a ceasefire and the start of a dialogue. The contact group has already given both sides a list of basic principles for a resolution of the Kosovo issue, and is now developing a paper on options for a settlement for transmission to the parties.

There has been little progress in securing the return of refugees and displaced persons. UNHCR estimate that 107,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Kosovo since the beginning of the crisis.

An OSCE assessment mission visited the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) on 14–22 July. The mission concluded that there was a need for the rapid re-establishment of the long term missions to Kosovo, the Sandzak and Vojvodina. However, the authorities in Belgrade insisted that they were only prepared to accept the long term mission to Kosovo in return for the simultaneous participation of the FRY in the OSCE. It remains the UK view that the FRY should make further progress on the issues identified by Snr. Gonzalez in December 1996 before the FRY participates in the work of the OSCE.

NATO planning on a full range of options continues. No date has been fixed for the next meeting of the contact group.