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Dr. Godman: When my right hon. Friend meets the President of Montenegro in 58 minutes, will he be able to outline plainly the role that the European Union will play in the reconstruction of those communities that have been razed by Milosevic and his murderous thugs? Surely the European Union will have to play an important interventionist role, especially where funds are concerned.
Mr. Cook: We are already conducting detailed discussions among our close allies and other members of the Security Council--including Russia--about the structure of the international presence that will follow the
end of the conflict. It is agreed on all sides that the European Union will be the lead agency in the economic reconstruction of Kosovo and the physical reconstruction of its villages and towns.
We have already given 13 million euros in assistance to Montenegro to help it through a severe budgetary crisis caused by both the presence of the refugees and the loss of much of its trade through Serbia. I will explore with President Djukanovic how a democratic Montenegro, under the leadership that has provided the present policies, can play its part in the new start that we offer to all the countries of the region for an open trading area and a Balkan regeneration plan which will accelerate the integration of those countries into a modern Europe. We also hold out the prospect to the people of Serbia that they can be part of that programme if Belgrade turns its face away from the policies of fascism rooted in the middle of this century.
Mr. Dalyell:
What is NATO's assessment of the damage caused so far to the environment by ammonia, benzene, mercury, phosgene and other pollutants as a result of attacks on chemical factories?
Mr. Cook:
My hon. Friend will welcome the news that the United Nations Environment Programme today submitted its report on its assessment of the environmental hazards in Serbia and concluded that the environmental damage was minimal. My hon. Friend will also be aware that the United Nations Under-Secretary-General today completes his tour of Yugoslavia, which has included some days spent in Kosovo assessing the humanitarian impact of the Serb forces' activities. I will share with the House his conclusion at his press conference as he left Montenegro. He said:
At the end of last week, I visited Washington. That visit demonstrated the solidarity of our two countries and our joint resolve to secure the objectives of NATO. Tonight, I set out on a tour of Rome, Bonn and Paris to consult my colleagues in the major European capitals of the alliance. I want to take stock with them on the success of our military campaign and the progress of the diplomatic initiatives. As both the military and the diplomatic tracks gather momentum, it is important that we prepare now to be ready for the day when we can escort the refugees back.
Britain is urging that we get on with those preparations so that we are ready to enter Kosovo as soon as our diplomatic initiatives have secured agreement on our objectives, or when our military campaign has left the Serb forces unable to cling on inside Kosovo. We will be exploring with partners what contribution we can each make to ensure that NATO has a balanced force with a broad base across the alliance, ready to move whenever the time comes for the refugees to go home.
Whether or not it is a member of NATO, every European Union member state is solidly behind our key objectives: the Serb forces must get out of Kosovo, NATO troops must be allowed into Kosovo, and the refugees must be allowed back in safety.
Mr. Bowen Wells (Hertford and Stortford):
Is proper provision being made to enable the Kosovo refugees to go home? They will need prefabricated homes in their present location in Albania or Macedonia, which they can pack up and take back to Kosovo to erect in their villages and towns while they rebuild their homes and the surrounding infrastructure. Has funding been made available and have preparations been made for that objective, and will the Foreign Secretary discuss it with all his interlocutors in the next few days?
Mr. Cook:
The hon. Gentleman raises a serious issue, and speaks from a great depth of knowledge and interest in the subject. We are currently exploring with humanitarian agencies and our allies the important pre-positioning, within the region, of the building materials that we shall need to assist the refugees to get through the winter. Whether the refugees spend that time in Kosovo or elsewhere, building materials will be relevant to the winterisation programme. I hope that with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, we will be able to proceed with that prudent contingency for winter. We have consistently demanded that when the refugees return, they should be accompanied by free, unhindered entry of all the relevant humanitarian agencies.
Mr. Douglas Hogg (Sleaford and North Hykeham):
The right hon. Gentleman referred to the entry of NATO forces into Kosovo when the Serb forces are, in his words, unable to cling on. To what extent does he contemplate using or involving forces from outside NATO, particularly from countries belonging to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and to what extent have there been talks with OSCE countries with a view to deploying their troops, with NATO troops, into Kosovo?
Mr. Cook:
There have been discussions with a number of countries, inside and outside the OSCE, that might be willing to make a contribution, and some Islamic nations would want to participate in our force to pacify Kosovo and guarantee the ceasefire. NATO has a number of partners for peace that have also expressed an interest in taking part and, in the past few weeks, we have had direct discussions with Russia.
We have always stressed that to be credible and effective, that international military presence must have a NATO core with a NATO command structure, but we have also made it plain that it will not be an exclusively NATO show. On the contrary, we would welcome other partners, who are anxious to contribute to Kosovo's reconstruction, working with us to demonstrate the broad range of international opinion that condemns the atrocities in Kosovo.
I am confident that when we agree the communique of the Cologne summit, it will affirm our joint resolve to complete the task and deliver on those key objectives without compromise. The Cologne summit will, however, also address a wide-ranging agenda. The key issues before
the summit reflect this Government's priorities for a Europe of reform, a Europe of the people and a Europe of strength in the world.
Let me start with the reform of Europe. The Government recognise that Britain's future lies in Europe. We believe that our people will be more prosperous if we deepen our trade and ties with Europe, and that their Government will have more, not less, influence around the world if we act as one with our partners. The fact that we are for Europe does not, however, prevent us from arguing for reform of Europe. On the contrary, the respect that the Government have gained in every capital of the European Union achieves far more than the Conservative party ever secured when it was in government. That respect and credibility gives us a strength when we argue for reform which the previous Government never had.
At Cologne, Romano Prodi will report on his plans for modernising the Commission. We very much welcome his commitment to the guiding principles of transparency, accountability and efficiency, and his pledge to the European Parliament that he wants a culture in the Commission that has "zero tolerance of corruption". [Interruption.] I do not know why Opposition Members should find anything funny in zero tolerance of corruption. We should surely try to build a consensus in the House on that. I assure hon. Members that I shall say more contentious things later, but on that I had looked for bilateral support.
We shall judge the proposals that Mr. Prodi submits at Cologne by whether they address many of the endemic weaknesses of Commission practice. Following the dramatic report of the committee of wise men, we circulated among all our partners the priorities that we believed must be addressed: recruitment should be objective and fair; promotion should be on merit, not on patronage; contracts should be awarded by procedures that are transparent and open; and the inspection of fraud should be independent and robust.
Mr. Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham):
Does the Foreign Secretary think that his Government gained respect in the capitals of Europe when his Members of the European Parliament voted to keep a corrupt Commission in power for yet more months, which has now been forced to resign?
Mr. Cook:
The European Parliament took no such decision. The treaty sets out that the Commission will remain in power until a new Commission is appointed. The European Council moved fast to appoint a new President, who is actively constructing the new Commission. As soon as that Commission is in place, the treaty provisions will take effect and the previous Commission will leave. The European Parliament did not vote to keep the Commissioners in office, nor did the European Parliament have the power to vote them out of office.
"One word--it is pretty revolting."
The Under-Secretary-General described town after town that has been reduced to a ghost town--emptied of a population who have fled in terror--and houses that have been burnt and destroyed. The impact of Serb forces on the environment in which the people of Kosovo lived is far greater than anything we have done in Serbia.
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