§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the pre-conflict Kosovan ethnic mix in(a) percentage and (b) numerical terms; and what measures he is planning to guarantee the security of non-Albanians in post-conflict Kosovo. [83926]
§ Mr. Tony LloydDefinitive statistics for Kosovo's pre-March 1999 ethnic make-up do not exist. On the available information, we estimate that Albanians represented between 70 per cent. and 90 per cent. of Kosovo's pre-March 1999 population (approximately 1.6 million). The remainder of the population consisted of Serbs and Montenegrins (perhaps 150,000), Muslims (up to 100,000), and Turks, Romanies and a group known as 'Egyptians' (probably less than 50,000).
Our aim is a post-conflict administration of Kosovo that safeguards the security of all its people, irrespective of ethnic origin. That can be achieved only by means of a strong international military presence with a NATO core.