§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings have been held between(a) United Kingdom Ministers, (b) British diplomats and (c) other parties acting on behalf 612W of the United Kingdom with President Slobodan Milosevic since he assumed the presidency of Yugoslavia; on which date the meetings were held; and what matters were discussed in each case. [81578]
§ Mr. Tony LloydI met President Milosevic on 31 October 1997 when I informed him that we wanted the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to rejoin the European family of nations but that this would require progress on democratisation, indicted war criminals and Kosovo. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary travelled to Belgrade to discuss Kosovo with President Milosevic on 5 March 1998.
Our Ambassador in Belgrade, Ivor Roberts, was present during the first of the above calls and met Milosevic separately on 10 June 1997 when the conversation was dominated by war criminals and Kosovo. Brian Donnelly, our subsequent Ambassador, presented his credentials to Milosevic on 19 December 1997: the call focused on Bosnia, war criminals and Kosovo.
Ivor Roberts travelled to Belgrade on 2 July 1998 as my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's Special Representative to discuss Kosovo. The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party met Milosevic on 29 September and handed over a letter from the Prime Minister.