| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Shock and Awe Concept
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What senior officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence attended the discussions at the Royal United Services Institution in August of the United States National Defence University concept, Shock and Awe-Achieving Rapid Dominance, and whether Ministers accept this new concept and consider it compatible with the Charter of the United Nations, with international law and conventions, with the NATO Treaty, and with the OSCE Convention; and
Whether, if the shock and awe concept were introduced into United States rules of engagement, they would be content for United States forces to continue to be based in, or make use of, the United Kingdom or United Kingdom protected territories, and whether they will undertake that British forces will not operate other than in accordance with the United Nations Charter, international law and conventions, the NATO Treaty, and the OSCE Convention, or co-operate with forces which are permitted to operate outwith international law.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The discussion was attended by the Assistant Under-Secretary for Policy in the MoD, a member of the Directorate of Defence Policy, MoD and the Head of Security Policy Department, FCO. It was a presentation of the personal views of a prominent academic from the United States, not a statement of US policy. Neither I nor other members of Her Majesty's Government see any need to opine on his views or their compatibility with the various conventions and treaties listed.
NATO: Counter-Proliferation
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether discussions within NATO on counter-proliferation hardware, including anti-tactical missile hardware, are being held on the understanding that NATO is to be expanded eastwards, and that nuclear weapons are, or may be, deployed in the territory of any new member.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The recommendations to address NATO's military response to the risks posed by proliferation are being taken forward through the established machinery of the Alliance, where all relevant factors will be taken into account.
NATO: CFE Treaty
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend that the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty should still apply to the ex-Warsaw Pact countries into which it is intended that NATO should expand.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) applies to all the European countries of the former Warsaw Pact except the Baltic states. Their continued membership is a matter for their governments.
NATO: Deployment of Nuclear Weapons
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish and present to Parliament NATO's proposals for the deployment or non-deployment of nuclear weapons, and for control of their use, in the east European states into which it is currently proposed that NATO should expand, and whether such deployment, on soil where they are not currently deployed, would be compatible with the non-proliferation treaty.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: NATO's policy on the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of new members is set out in the NATO enlargement study, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of the House. It is the policy of NATO that all nuclear weapons deployed on the territory of allies should, in line with Article 1 of the non-proliferation treaty, remain under the control of a nuclear-weapon state.
NATO: Security Guarantees
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend that, in any enlargement of NATO, the same security guarantees should be extended to new members as have been enjoyed
- by NATO's original members throughout the organisation's existence.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: Yes.
NATO: Enlargement
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish details of the financial criteria which they consider should apply to the enlargement of NATO, similar to those they have published for the enlargement of the European Union, and lay them before Parliament before agreeing to further discussion of enlargement of NATO in December this year.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: It is impossible to predict the likely costs of NATO enlargement until we know who will join, when, and on what terms.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How the statement in the final communique of the ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Council, issued in Berlin on 3rd June 1996, "We reaffirm our determination that the process of opening the Alliance
- to new members should not create dividing lines in Europe or isolate any country", is to be understood.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: As all allied governments agreed in September 1995, NATO's enlargement must be understood as only one important element of a broad European security architecture that transcends and renders obsolete the idea of "dividing lines" in Europe.
Nobel Peace Prize Awards and Policy on East Timor
The Earl of Sandwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the recent award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Bishop Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta has led to any new development of their policy on East Timor.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The Nobel Peace Prize awards have not changed the Government's policy on East Timor. We remain committed to supporting efforts to find a just and comprehensive settlement to the problem.
| Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |