Examination of Witnesses (Questions 440-443)
Rt Hon Caroline Flint, Ms Katherine Fox and Mr Adam
Bye
16 OCTOBER 2008
Q440 Lord Crickhowell: I understand
that presumably we all go on interpreting the international law
and act on that basis. Unfortunately Serbia is clearly going to
say, "Well, that may be all right by you" but they are
not going to take the final crucial decision until we get the
judgment. So although they may cooperate—we have asked them
to cooperate in a number of areas—there is a terrible blockage
now on actually bringing the situation to conclusion.
Caroline Flint: I think we are going
to have to deal with that in our discussions. We believe that
Serbia has made a mistake. As I said before, I think it keeps
the focus on the past rather than the future and it talks about
what divides Serbia from Europe rather than what connects Serbia
and I think that is not helpful to the ambitions of the Serbian
Government which we were really pleased to see after the elections
in May when they formed this pro-European Coalition. We have different
avenues of engagement and we will continue to pursue them in as
constructive and forward looking way as possible. I think we will
just have to see but again there are particular activities which
will need to happen over the next few months which obviously inform
how things will be moving forward, positively or not. Adam, do
you want to say anything?
Mr Bye: I do not think there is much
one can add to that. The independence of Kosovo is a fact; the
recognition by 51 states is a fact and cannot be undone. What
we have always disliked about this initiative is that it looks
backwards rather than forwards as the Minister said. Our focus
is on the ground and embedding stability and the success of Kosovo
because that is what is key to the region.
Q441 Lord Selkirk of Douglas: Minister,
to what extent is there a risk that Kosovo will be partitioned
along ethnic lines and what action is the EU taking to address
this risk? The background to the question is of course the strong
principled stand we took against ethnic cleansing in the European
Union in general, and also how important it was to protect minorities.
To what extent do you see this as a grave risk?
Caroline Flint: Partition is an option
that the international community has consistently rejected. Our
goal is a multi-ethnic Kosovo not new divisions in the Balkans
along the ethnic lines as you have outlined. My understanding
is that the Serbian President rowed back from some recent media
comments which appeared to entertain partition of Kosovo and our
ambassador in Belgrade has made it clear to the Serbian Government
that that is not a viable option. That is why we are committed
to see EULEX deployed throughout the whole territory of Kosovo
and it is important for our Serbian colleagues to recognise that
and to support that. The deployment of EULEX to the Serb majority
in the north is not conditioned on Belgrade's acquiescence; it
is very important that this takes place. As I am becoming more
aware as Europe Minister, the issue of ethnic minorities in these
countries of the Western Balkans is something which is not easy
and extremely sensitive, but I think the international community
after the terrible losses of life in earlier years really have
made it the case that you cannot create states that divide along
these lines, especially in terms of being part of the European
Union. Within the existing Member States of the European Union
we continue to work to ensure that minorities within those states
as well are treated fairly. We are still working on that within
the European Union with different groups; it is something we have
to be firm about in terms any other country's aspirations.
Q442 Lord Hamilton of Epsom: You
will bear in mind though that the Dayton Accord thought about
Bosnia that they should all be mixed up together and that in fact
they all divided along ethnic lines. It may be that you have to
live with people being divided before they are to come back together
again. The wounds are still quite fresh from an extremely violent
civil war.
Caroline Flint: I appreciate that.
Q443 Chairman: Minister, on behalf
of the Committee I would like to thank you very much indeed for
having come and given us quite so much time this morning over
such a wide range of topics at such an early stage of your responsibilities
in the Foreign Office. We are certainly looking forward to continuing
the dialogue that we had with your predecessors and, as I say,
we are very grateful to you and your officials for having come
and helped us so much with the answers this morning.
Caroline Flint: Thank you very much.
I would like to thank Katherine and Adam for their helpful support
to me during this session.
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