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 made by the President of Slovenia at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 21 June 2023.

We welcome President Nataša Pirc Musar's speech in Strasbourg to mark 30 years of Slovenia's membership in the Council of Europe (CoE) and thank her for highlighting the devastating consequences of Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine.

We agree with President Pirc Musar's remarks that the Council of Europe must remain a global standard-bearer in addressing new and evolving human rights challenges, including on the environment and AI. The Prime Minister and Lord Ahmad were pleased to attend the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik alongside nearly forty other European leaders, including President Pirc Musar. Against the backdrop of Putin's heinous war against Ukraine, we stand united our European partners to defend our common values and support freedom, democracy and the rule of law across the continent.

We share the President Pirc Musar's focus on the need to de-escalate current tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and the importance of avoiding any further inflammatory actions or rhetoric and for a return to the EU-facilitated Dialogue.