Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the humanitarian and security situation in Nagorno-Karabakh; and when he last spoke to his counterparts in (a) Armenia and (b) Azerbaijan.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The security situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has improved since the 20 September ceasefire, which has held since 23 September. However, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the significant refugee flows from Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia, has placed local communities under immense pressure. It is vital that international humanitarian organisations have independent access into Nagorno-Karabakh, so they can assess humanitarian need and respond appropriately. We therefore welcome Azerbaijan's decision on 1 October to allow UN agencies into Nagorno-Karabakh, to complement ongoing efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Foreign Secretary spoke to his Armenian counterpart on 10 and will speak to his Azerbaijani counterpart on 18 October. I [Minister Docherty] spoke to both Foreign Ministers on 28 September".
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking with international partners to help facilitate the lifting of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK Government has been vocal about the importance of re-opening the Lachin Corridor, including at the United Nations Security Council in New York on 20 December 2022 and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna on 17 January and 27 April 2023. This message was conveyed by the Minister for Europe during his visit to Azerbaijan in February, and was discussed during his visit to Armenia in May. The UK Government will continue to support constructive dialogue in further contacts with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments in the coming months.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Baltic states on regional security.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK is committed to the security of the Baltic states, including through our enhanced Forward Presence in Estonia. The Foreign Secretary regularly speaks to his Baltic counterparts on regional security. He spoke to the Latvian Foreign Minister last month at the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels and welcomed the Lithuanian Foreign Minister to London in February. The Foreign Secretary will also be speaking to Baltic counterparts around the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Oslo next month. We are also committed to Baltic security through the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) as shown by the Prime Minister's attendance at the Leader level JEF Summit in Riga in December.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with members of the United Nations Security Council on Russia's presidency of that body.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We and partners worked to ensure Russia's presidency of the Security Council did not provide a platform for the further spread of disinformation around their unjust and illegal war on Ukraine. Throughout their presidency in April we continued to shine a spotlight on Russia's failure to meet the most basic obligations of a UN Member State and its contempt for the UN Charter. We challenged attempts to use their presidency to spread disinformation. This included blocking a UN webcast of a presidency meeting on the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia due to be addressed by Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights who is subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the continuance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Over 30 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been exported through the Black Sea Grain Initiative since it started on 1 August. It is a positive that Russia has dropped its deadline of 18 May and the deal will now continue until the next official deadline of 18 July, we urge Russia to abide by this commitment. The UK has been a leading voice on the international stage in calling Russia out for destabilising the deal and will continue to hold Russia to account if it continues to use food as a weapon.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help the Overseas Territories respond to hybrid threats from hostile state actors in (a) cyber, (b) information, (c) media and (d) political domains.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK holds responsibility to support all Overseas Territories to safeguard from threats to their internal and external security. This includes from hostile state actors. The FCDO and the Home Office provide a wide range of support to the Overseas Territories in this regard. This includes a UK police superintendent and temporary Commissioner seconded to Montserrat police; a 16-strong serious crime investigation team deployed in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and establishing a vetting agency in the British Virgin Islands.
The Home Office is also conducting National Cyber Risk Assessments across the Overseas Territories to identify potential vulnerabilities and risks to critical national infrastructure. Recommendations on mitigation of those risks are provided as part of these assessments, as is support for implementation.
We will continue to explore ways in which the Overseas Territories can maintain international support in countering hostile actors.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the repurposing of seized Russian state assets to support reconstruction efforts in Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The FCDO is working closely with other Government departments including the Home Office and the Treasury as well as law enforcement agencies to identify all possible options for seizing Russian-linked assets in the UK that could be used to pay for reconstruction in Ukraine. While the UK is pursuing this at pace, ensuring any policy implemented is safe, robust, and compliant with the rule of law is of paramount importance.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Council of Europe on the vote of 24 April 2023 on Kosovo’s membership application.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Lord Peach, discussed the 24 April vote with Kosovo President Osmani on 5 May. The UK welcomes the decision by the Council of Europe's (CoE) Committee of Ministers to pass Kosovo's application to the CoE Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). This next step in the process will allow due consideration of the application in accordance with standard Council of Europe membership procedures.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with G7 counterparts on the seizure and repurposing of Russian state assets.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We continue to work across the G7 to share expertise and experience on possible options for seizing Russian-linked assets in the UK that could be used to pay for reconstruction in Ukraine. The G7 February and April Leaders' Statement reiterated that Russia will have no access to the assets frozen or immobilised in the UK until it ends its violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. International partners have also frozen a significant volume of assets but, like the UK, are yet to fully test the lawfulness of this.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of times (a) ChatGPT and (b) other AI chatbots have been accessed on his Department's IT systems in (i) the UK and (ii) overseas missions in the last 12 months.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO actively manages all applications and services on its corporate network taking into account security and data protection risks. Authorisation and approval for the use of any individual application is subject to Departmental security policies and procedures.
Chat-GPT and other similar products are not accessible from FCDO's corporate IT. The FCDO, following guidance from the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), is developing specific guidance to enable its staff to continue to work securely and protect FCDO and HMG data.