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Mr. Cook: No one could possibly accuse the Government of treating Kosovo as a far away country of which we know little; on the contrary, we are more committed than any other European country. Kosovo is part of the European continent. Europe itself cannot have any pride or any rest while there is such instability and such atrocity immediately over the borders of the European Union.
However, I advise the hon. Gentleman not to be too glib in demanding an expeditionary force. What is the expeditionary force to do? Is it supposed to take on the KLA as well as the Serb security forces? In the present circumstances, it would have to be prepared to do that. The only casualty that the verification mission has sustained so far was from a shot by the KLA. We would have to consider with great care the commitments that we had from both sides and the political process that we were seeking to support by our presence on the ground.
Mr. Tony Benn (Chesterfield):
I thank my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary for the balanced way in which he presented the background against which the hideous massacre occurred. I ask him to resist those who believe that there is an easy way out through the invasion of Serbia by Britain--the United States would not send troops. There is no provision which says that Britain, the European Union or NATO is the policeman of the world. Hideous atrocities occur in many countries: there is injustice to Palestinians and to Kurds; there are injustices all over the world. Success will come through negotiated settlements. I detected from his answer that my right hon. Friend believes that that might form the basis of a durable solution.
Mr. Cook:
I entirely agree that there are no easy answers. If there were, we should be making rapid progress to implement them. I also agree that it is important to focus on getting momentum behind the political track and trying to achieve agreement between both sides, but I am conscious that only the credible threat of military force, if necessary, is likely to engage both sides in dialogue. We need to get that balance right.
Sir Peter Emery (East Devon):
Will the right hon. Gentleman use as support the resolution that was passed in Vienna on Friday by the 55 nations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security
Mr. Cook:
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman's comments. The OSCE can take some satisfaction from the way in which it has risen to this difficult and complex task. I pay particular tribute to my opposite numbers, the Foreign Ministers of Poland and Norway, who have presided over the OSCE during this period. I should like to reinforce strongly one point that the right hon. Gentleman made: individuals have to be held to account for their responsibility for the crimes that they commit. We have to escape from the idea that because the victims belong to a different ethnic group such actions are not crimes and their perpetrators will be immune from prosecution. The only way to escape from that vicious cycle is to make it clear that we shall hold individually responsible those who commit war crimes. All those serving in Kosovo are on notice that they will be held individually to account for their actions.
Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North):
Is it not clear that, as in Bosnia, the Serbians involved will not hesitate to commit atrocities--as over the weekend--against civilians, quite regardless of international protests and the International War Crimes Tribunal? Has not the time come to stop giving warnings to Belgrade and instead to act along military lines and bomb Serbian military installations? I ask my right hon. Friend a question that is bound to be asked by Muslims in Europe and elsewhere--are the lives of Muslims worth less than those of other people?
Mr. Cook:
I would certainly rebut totally any suggestion that we hold the lives of Kosovar Albanians or Muslims any more lightly than the lives of anyone else. The purpose of my statement today was to underline the enormous gravity that we attach to this terrible atrocity. I sense from the House that that sense of shock and revulsion at what has happened is shared by everybody within the House. As I have said, the actord remains in place, and it requires only one political decision to trigger it. Generals Clark and Naumann will be spelling that out to President Milosevic tomorrow, when they demand full compliance.
I repeat that it is vital that we find and bring to justice the individuals who carried out this war crime. Bombing other Serb installations would not be the appropriate or right way of getting hold of those who committed this crime. Belgrade has an opportunity to distance itself from
the crime by co-operating and bringing to justice those who committed it. If they refuse to do so tomorrow, they will become complicit in the crime.
Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex):
I, too, express my admiration for the astonishing bravery of the verification force, which is carrying out an extremely difficult task under hazardous conditions. May I warn the Foreign Secretary that as the weather improves, so the fighting will intensify--as it always does in the Balkans--that substantial arms are flowing to the KLA and that the Serbs have no intention of backing down? Is it not clear, therefore, that we should now consider with our partners and colleagues whether the verifiers should be armed to look after themselves in self-defence? Finally, will the Foreign Secretary assure the House that Generals Clark and Naumann will not be putting forward sanctions against the Serbs tomorrow that they will not willingly undertake when the circumstances require it?
Mr. Cook:
I can assure the hon. Gentleman that anything referred to tomorrow carries with it the authority of the North Atlantic Council and the commitment to see it through. I endorse and second the hon. Gentleman's praise for the courage of the verification mission. It takes an enormous commitment to go unarmed, and in lightly clad vehicles, into such hazardous situations.
I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the danger of tension rising as the weather improves. That is precisely why, back in November, we were anxious to make as rapid progress as possible on the political track so that, by the time the spring thaws came round, we could have changed the political facts on the ground. That is exactly why I am so worried that we have not been able to get meaningful negotiations under way, and why we will be meeting this week--and, perhaps, again next week--to see what momentum we can put into that political track to provide a clear perspective and the hope that by the spring there will be an alternative to military conflict in Kosovo.
Finally, although we must maintain careful scrutiny of the safety of the verifiers, we would be extremely reluctant to go down the path of arming individual verifiers, as suggested by the hon. Gentleman. Let us remember that Racak was brought under mortar and heavy machine gun fire yesterday, which obliged the verifiers to leave. Light sidearms would be of no use in those circumstances, and might well only attract attack.
Mr. John Austin (Erith and Thamesmead):
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and I pay tribute to the verification mission. He indicated that the way forward is a political settlement, based on autonomy for Kosovo. Does he recall that, under the 1974 constitution, the Kosovar Albanians had their own national assembly, national bank and supreme court, had equal representation on the Yugoslavian presidency and in the assembly and had equal status with Serbia and the other republics in economic decision making? Does he share my view that nothing less than what they had under that 1974 constitution would be acceptable to them now? If such autonomy was on offer, could it be guaranteed by
Mr. Cook:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right: the root of the conflict and of the tragedy at the weekend was in the decision taken by President Milosevic to remove the autonomy that Kosovo had previously enjoyed. Any outcome of the political process must at least restore to Kosovo the same degree of autonomy that it has enjoyed historically. It is not a simple matter of turning back the clock, because the period to which my hon. Friend referred was the period in which Yugoslavia existed, so Kosovo enjoyed its autonomy within a much wider state than the present small bounds of Serbia. That is why, ultimately, if we want to secure a democratic and self-governing Kosovo, we must also ensure that it exists within a democratic Serbia that respects freedom of expression and human rights.
"Those who refuse to co-operate with international efforts should face consequences and be held accountable for their acts."
It goes on:
"We call upon the leadership of the OSCE . . . to take appropriate measures to provide protection and security for mission personnel."
The Russians were even willing to add:
"One of these measures is the extraction force deployed in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia."
There was unanimous agreement that the whole of Europe should act positively to bring pressure to bear on Serbia. Even the French agreed.
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