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Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
13. Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's bilateral relations with (a) Poland, (b) Hungary and (c) the Czech Republic. [35173]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor: Relations between the United Kingdom and Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic respectively remain excellent.
Mr. Mackinlay: Is the Minister aware that, in this year when we shall commemorate the 50th anniversary of the speech at Fulton, Missouri, the people of central Europe--of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and of many other countries--are yearning to redeem the pledges that were made immediately after the end of the second world war? Can the Government not show more enthusiasm for the early admission of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to NATO and for a widening of the European Union rather than a deepening, to allow those countries access to great European institutions founded on democracy?
Sir Nicholas Bonsor: I agree that Her Majesty's Government should take every opportunity to emphasise our enthusiasm for all three countries joining NATO and the European Union. I was in Hungary last week giving precisely that assurance, and I visited the Czech Republic and Poland to do the same. We shall do everything in our power to ensure that, as soon as all three countries fulfil the necessary criteria, they join us in both organisations.
Mr. David Howell: I welcome the tone of my hon. Friend's reply, but does he agree that the countries of central Europe and other countries have traditionally looked to Britain as a friend and supporter in promoting their democratic interests, and that they now see a Europe that is more in the British mould of the open and diversified kind rather than the centralised and protective European model? They are looking to London particularly for a lead in that respect.
Will my hon. Friend give an undertaking that he and his colleagues will give that lead and give those countries every encouragement to join an open and diversified Europe of nations and to join NATO as rapidly as possible while we have the opportunity and before darker threats from further east make it impossible to do so?
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
Certainly, Her Majesty's Government will do everything they can to hasten the process. We give much assistance through the British Council and the know-how fund to ensure that countries move forward as fast as possible in establishing the internal systems that will enable them to join the European Union and NATO.
The only word of caution that I would add is that we must get these things right and the structure of the European Union right rather than expanding it before problems in the European Union that inhibit that expansion have been dealt with. We must not expand and find ourselves in a position that we subsequently cannot correct.
14. Mr. Soley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what work his Department is doing in co-operation with other countries to protect human rights in Burma. [35174]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Burma. With our EU partners and other like-minded states, we have taken action, both bilaterally and in international forums, to press the State Law and Order Restoration Council to implement human rights reforms. We shall continue to do so.
Mr. Soley:
In view of the remarkable courage and commitment of Aung San and of the sad death in prison of Mr. Nichols, who was imprisoned for having a fax in his home, do we not have a duty to listen to democrats in Burma who have been asking for a ban on trade and investment? Bearing in mind the fact that this week we are feting Nelson Mandela and that we traded and invested in South Africa at a time when he was calling for us not to do so, is there not a lesson to be learned? Aung San, like Nelson Mandela, will win and we should back her.
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
It is always difficult to know whether it helps a country to ban trade with it, which can have disastrous effects on its poorer people, or to try to trade with it and open it up to better ways of running its affairs. We have a close relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi and her party and we listen closely to the messages that they send us. It is Government policy to continue to trade with Burma, because we do not believe that it would help the liberalisation process if we were not to do so. The level of trade with Burma is extremely low. Our exports last year amounted to £15 million. A ban would not make a huge impact one way or the other.
Mr. Anthony Coombs:
Does my hon. Friend agree that, since Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest, far from democratic reconciliation having taken place between SLORC and opposition parties, the level of oppression has, if anything, increased significantly? Given that Aung San Suu Kyi herself has said that European countries, and the international community generally, ought to discourage trade and investment in Burma, is it not time that the British Government gave a lead?
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
I can only repeat what I said to the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley). We keep these matters under review. We are watching the political situation closely, and paying particular attention to the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr. Fatchett:
Does the Minister realise that his answer has gained no support from any hon. Member? Is it not now clear that the deterioration of the human rights regime in Burma is such that the United Kingdom should support the demand for trade sanctions? That is what the democrats in Burma want, and what the Danish Government want. Is it not time for Britain to join the campaign?
Is it not also clear that this Conservative Government have always got it wrong on sanctions? Was it not this Conservative Government alone who continued to oppose
sanctions against South Africa? Their hypocrisy and shame are now clear for us all to see. Is it not time that they learned the lessons from South Africa, and took action to support the democrats and the people of Burma?
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
The present situation in South Africa illustrates the success of the policies pursued by Her Majesty's Government over the years. It is nonsense to suggest that sanctions are the only way to bring recalcitrant Governments to heel. In my experience, on most of the occasions when we have tried that method it has failed. We should try to achieve a balance between not inflicting too much damage on the people of the country concerned and putting sufficient pressure on its Government to reform their ways. That is what we attempt to do, but--as the hon. Gentleman would admit if he were honest--it is an extremely difficult task.
Mr. Jacques Arnold:
Will my hon. Friend bear it in mind that, in the past, trade sanctions imposed for the best possible reasons have invariably led to our export contracts' being taken over by, for instance, the Italians, the French and the Japanese?
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Although I would not base our foreign policy on the fear that we may lose such contracts, it is nevertheless true that, when sanctions have been imposed--even by the international community--they have been broken by many countries that have undertaken to abide by them.
15. Mr. Win Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the meetings attended by Ministers in his Department with their European Union counterparts to prepare for the intergovernmental conference. [35175]
Mr. David Davis:
There are ministerial sessions of the IGC approximately once a month.
Mr. Griffiths:
I dare say that, when the Minister next attends one of those meetings, he will want to trumpet loudly the success of LG's investment in Newport, in south Wales. He may also point out to his European counterparts that such major inward investors pay excellent wages, provide good working conditions and have absolutely no fear of the social chapter: indeed, they have suggested that they would welcome it. Does not LG's decision show that it has no qualms about the signing and implementing of the social chapter by a Labour Government?
Mr. Davis:
The hon. Gentleman omits to mention that LG has contributed just one part of what has been record inward investment for a long time. The reason for that investment is hardly the reason given by the hon. Gentleman; it has been made because we have a liberal, well-run, free labour market, which is effective in generating wealth and which gives a proper return on investment. That is the view not only of people in Japan, Korea and other parts of the world but of those who run Siemens and Deutschebank and those responsible for the German equivalent of the CBI. They say exactly the opposite of what the hon. Gentleman
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
Have the subject and the problems of Cyprus appeared on the agenda of any of the meetings to which my hon. Friend referred and, if so, has he advised our European Union colleagues that Turkish troops have a right to be in Cyprus, as Turkey is a guarantor power and went there to protect the Cypriot Turkish community? Have the Government told colleagues in the European Union that it is vital to treat Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots equally on all occasions, because, without the agreement of both communities, any progress is unlikely?
Mr. Davis:
On the explicit matters that my hon. Friend raises, the question of Cyprus has not come up in detail. Obviously, it has come up as a matter of principle in relation to the enlargement of the Community.
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