§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Yugoslav authorities in respect of the massacre at Racak. [66947]
§ Mr. Tony LloydActing on the instructions of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, the UK Chargé in Belgrade took action on 17 January on behalf of the EU members of the Contact Group to express condemnation of the Racak killings to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade, and to call for the withdrawal of the forces then in Racak, full compliance with the relevant Security Council resolutions and the agreements entered into by President Milosevic last October, access to Kosovo for the Chief Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the suspension of police and army officers in the Racak area on 15 January. The UK Chargé also joined in an EU demarche to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 18 January which made similar points. That same day a senior official of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office saw the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and made clear to him that we condemn the killings at Racak and stressed the need for the authorities in Belgrade to comply with the demands of the international community, also handing him a copy of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's Statement to the House that afternoon, 18 January 1999,Official Report, columns 565–67.
The UK has also played an active role in deliberations of the UN Security Council, the OSCE, NATO and the EU leading to the clear statements issued by those bodies in reaction to the Racak killings. The authorities in Belgrade can be in no doubt of our condemnation of what happened, and our view of the action which now needs to be taken.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Yugoslavian Ambassador in respect of the massacre at Racak. [66948]
§ Mr. Tony LloydA senior official of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office saw the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 18 January, and made clear to him that we condemn the killings at Racak and stressed the need for the authorities in Belgrade to comply with the demands of the international community, also handing him a copy of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's Statement to the House that afternoon, 18 January 1999,Official Report, columns 565–67. Together with EU colleagues, the UK Chargé in Belgrade has taken similar action.