Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
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 implications for his policies of the debate on Russia’s role in escalating tensions in the Republic of Moldova, which took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 April 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We were aware of the debate in April and were pleased that the Parliamentary Assembly considered this important issue. The UK resolutely supports Moldova in the face of Russian aggression and disinformation. On 16 March, the Foreign Secretary met Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu in Chisinau. He reiterated the UK's steadfast support for sovereign Moldova as it pursues a path of freedom and independence. He also committed a further £10 million of support towards economic and governance reforms. This is in addition to £12 million over three years pledged in 2022 to build a stronger, more resilient Moldova, through our work on anti-corruption, counter-disinformation and reform. On 9 December 2022, the UK sanctioned two Moldovans, Mr Ilan Shor and Mr Vladimir Plahotniuc under its Global Anti-Corruption regime.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
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 implications for his policies of the debate on Assessing the functioning of the partnership for democracy, which took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 25 April 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK has followed the resolution which was approved at the Parliamentary Assembly at the Council of Europe on 25 April 2023 and supports the re-evaluation of the Partnership for Democracy which came into place in 2010. Democracy, human rights and the rule of law are important values, which the UK strives to uphold domestically and promote internationally. Platforms such as the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly are vital in this area.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
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 implications for his policies of the debate on Progress report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee and Observation of the presidential election in Montenegro, which took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 24 April 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK welcomes the Council of Europe's (CoE) Parliamentary Assembly debate on the Presidential elections in Montenegro. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) observer mission, to which the UK government contributed, concluded the elections overall to be "competitive and well-run".
The UK government supported a local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to provide election monitoring, reporting of irregularities and broadcast of an early results forecast. The UK will continue to support Montenegro to conduct free and fair democratic processes, including during Parliamentary elections scheduled in June and to encourage Montenegro to strengthen electoral practices in line with ODIHR and CoE recommendations.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the debate on Implementation of judgements of the European Court of Human Rights, which took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 26 April 2023.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The UK is committed to fulfilling its international human rights obligations. This includes the obligation to implement judgments of the European Court of Human Rights against the UK. Currently, only 14 judgments against the UK are still under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers. This is lower than almost all member States with similar population size. At the end of 2022, outstanding judgments and decisions against the UK made up only 0.23% of the total [14 out of 6,112]. We support the Council of Europe’s work to improve the effectiveness of the tools available to the Committee of Ministers in the supervision of the execution of judgments.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the presentation by his Icelandic counterpart as chairman of the Committee of Ministers at the Council of Europe on 25 April 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the recent speech the Icelandic Foreign Minister made at the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe regarding the Icelandic priorities at the upcoming Council of Europe Head of State Summit later this month and agree that a key priority for the Summit is continued support to Ukarine and opposition to Russia's aggression. The Summit will be an opportunity to re-invigorate Europe's oldest multilateral organisation so that it plays a strong role in strengthening and securing democracy across Europe and ensure support for Ukraine, through continued pressure on Russia.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
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 implications for his policies of the debate on #RoadToReykjavik, which took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 25 April 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We welcome the recent speech the Icelandic Foreign Minister made at the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe regarding the Icelandic priorities at the upcoming Council of Europe Head of State Summit later this month and agree that a key priority for the Summit is continued support to Ukarine and opposition to Russia's aggression. The Summit will be an opportunity to re-invigorate Europe's oldest multilateral organisation so that it plays a strong role in strengthening and securing democracy across Europe and ensure support for Ukraine, through continued pressure on Russia.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the debate on European Convention on Human Rights and national constitutions, which took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 25 April 2023.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has noted with interest the debate on the European Convention on Human Rights and national constitutions, and the associated report by the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights which recognises “the UK having the lowest number of ECtHR applications (and indeed admissible applications), per capita, of Council of Europe member States.
The Government has also noted the discussion in the Committee’s report of legislation currently before this Parliament. The United Kingdom is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We will always make sure that our laws work in the best interests of the UK.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the oral contribution of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in response a question on the Lachin Corridor on 24 April 2023 at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government has been clear that continued disruption to the Lachin corridor runs counter to efforts to secure peace and stability in the region. We urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to engage in substantive negotiations to secure a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. If an independent international mission to the Lachin Corridor was welcomed by all parties, and would contribute to an early solution, then the UK would, in principle, support it.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
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 implications for his policies of the Address on the Annual activity report 2022 by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, which took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 24 April 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Human Rights Commissioner is an independent non-judicial role with the mandate of promoting awareness of and respect for human rights in the 46 Council of Europe member states. The UK Government will carefully consider the Commissioner for Human Rights Annual activity report.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
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 (a) his New Zealand counterpart and (b) relevant stakeholders on the abduction of Phillip Mehrtens in central Papua.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO Ministers have not had discussions with their New Zealand counterparts over this specific case. The British Embassy in Jakarta is in contact with the New Zealand Embassy to support their response. We continue to monitor developments closely.