Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Cypriot counterpart on military co-operation between Cyprus and Russia; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The UK has a strong relationship with the Republic of Cyprus, including a security and defence and we have regular discussions at official level. I met the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, Ioannis Kasoulides, 2 weeks ago and we discussed the issue of the Republic of Cyprus’ military agreements with Russia, alongside a number of areas of bilateral interest. It is our understanding that the military aspects of those agreements formalise arrangements already in place. We will continue to discuss security and defence matters with the Republic of Cyprus.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the situation in Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) updated the House on the situation in Ukraine on 23 February. Since the ceasefire agreed in Minsk on 12 February, Russia’s illegal actions in eastern Ukraine have reached a new level, with the separatists’ breach of the ceasefire to take control of the town of Debaltseve made possible only with the supply of Russian fighters and equipment on a very large scale. The Prime Minister underlined that the ceasefire must be respected in full by both sides; heavy weapons need to be drawn back; and all parties must fully implement the agreement they committed to at Minsk. If further destabilisation by Russia occurs then sanctions will be extended and toughened.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart about Eurozone negotiations with the Greek government; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The UK takes a close interest in this. I discussed the negotiations with Germany’s State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Steffen Kampeter in London on 11 February. In addition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) attended the Ecofin meeting in Brussels on 17 February that discussed Greece’s negotiations.
It is in Britain’s interest to see a stable euro area and is it vital that all parties continue to act responsibly. Her Majesty’s Government welcomes the decision by the Eurogroup on 24 February that the list of Greek reforms are sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of Greece’s review of its bailout programme. The subsequent completion of national procedures in euro area countries allows the current Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement to be extended by up to four months.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Venezuelan counterpart on the human rights situation in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
Her Majesty's Ambassador in Caracas most recently discussed human rights with the Venezuelan Foreign Minister on 31 January. This follows his discussions with the Vice Foreign Minister on the same subject in December.
I remain concerned about the situation in Venezuela. I have written to the Venezuelan government, and have discussed regional efforts to promote political dialogue in the country with Ministers from across Latin America.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met with his Ecuadorian counterpart; what the content of discussions at that meeting was; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
In the last quarter, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have met the Ecuadorean Ministers of Foreign Trade, of Housing, and of Skills and Human Talent. In these meetings, they discussed a range of bilateral interests such as the EU-Ecuador FTA and education sector cooperation.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met with his Guyanese counterpart; what the content of discussions at that meeting was; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
My rt hon. Friend, the Member for Richmond (Yorks), the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Hague), met his Guyanese counterpart, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the eighth UK-Caribbean Ministerial Forum on 16-17 June 2014, which she co-chaired. The two day event focussed on economic development, energy, education and security.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend, the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), recently issued a statement on 8 January 2015 concerning Guyana’s recent prorogation (suspension) of Parliament, and we welcome President Ramotar’s subsequent announcement that national and regional elections will be held in Guyana on 11 May 2015.
We will continue to engage regularly with Guyana on UK Government priorities.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met with his Chilean counterpart; what the content of discussions at that meeting was; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
There are regular high level meetings between the UK and Chilean government. I last met my Chilean counterpart during the Presidential Inauguration in March 2014, where we discussed priorities for the United Nations Security Council and the Human Rights Council, and ongoing cooperation between our two countries on a range of issues. I hosted the Ministers for Finance and Economy during Chile Day – an annual business investment event – in October 2014, and I hosted the Minister for Mines later that month, to discuss opportunities for British companies in the Chilean mining sector, during her visit for London Metals Week.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met with his Brazilian counterpart; what the content of discussions at that meeting was; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
I last spoke with my then Brazilian counterpart Eduardo Dos Santos, Vice Foreign Minister, in July 2014. We discussed a number of issues including the UK Brazil annual strategic dialogue, the BRICS Summit, Science without Borders and the UK's and Brazil’s priorities ahead of the UN Human Rights Council.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), spoke to his counterpart, Foreign Minister Vieira in January 2015, shortly after the latter's appointment. They plan to meet later this month at the UK Brazil annual strategic dialogue where they will discuss a wide range of foreign policy issues.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government took to ensure that the recent election in Sri Lanka was free and fair; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK joined an EU Heads of Mission statement on 2 January calling for the elections to be peaceful, credible and transparent. We encouraged the government of Sri Lanka to invite international observers, including from the EU and the Commonwealth, and provided support to local election monitoring groups. Officials from the British High Commission in Colombo also travelled around the country in the run-up to elections, observing the preparations and voting process, and co-ordinating closely with like-minded diplomatic missions and local groups.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his new Sri Lankan counterpart on protecting the Tamil and Muslim minority communities; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
On 9 January the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), congratulated Maithripala Sirisena on his victory in the Presidential elections, and also encouraged President Sirisena to support the ongoing UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights investigation into human rights abuses. The issues of the past must be addressed so Sri Lanka can move forward to a brighter, peaceful future where all Sri Lankans can play a role.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), said that Sri Lanka has a renewed opportunity now to grow as a stable, prosperous and inclusive country, reflecting the wishes of all its people.
I personally spoke to the new Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 12 January and made clear that we look forward to working with the new government and reinvigorating the long standing partnership between the UK and Sri Lanka. We will continue to engage with the new Sri Lankan government on the concern of minority communities.