Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support recent progress by Haiti’s transitional presidential council to hold elections.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is supporting international efforts to stabilise security in Haiti, and advance Haitian-led solutions. We welcome the Haitian Government's efforts to agree an electoral timetable, while acknowledging that continued gang violence remains a major obstacle. We are backing the UN-supported international Gang Suppression Force, which aims to tackle that violence, and enable progress towards free and fair elections. I spoke with the Haitian Foreign Minister in October and met with the Coordinator of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council in November to reaffirm UK support.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of allegations of the use of bromobenzyl cyanide by Georgian authorities against demonstrators.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I was deeply concerned by the BBC report alleging that Georgian police used toxic chemicals against protesters in Tbilisi in late 2024, and we expect Georgia to fulfil its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention to ensure that any alleged breaches of the Convention's prohibitions on uses of toxic chemicals are properly investigated.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the threat of Russian-backed disinformation campaigns to (a) peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, (b) Armenian democracy and (c) relations between Armenia and the United Kingdom.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Together with our international partners, we remain committed to supporting lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and to safeguarding Armenia's electoral integrity and democratic resilience, including against any attempted acts of information manipulation and interference by Russia. Working closely with our international partners, we are always ready to defend the information environment and will always act to disrupt any malign activity targeting democratic elections. I held constructive discussions with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the OSCE Ministerial on 4 December.