Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her Serbian counterpart on recent protests in Serbia.

The Foreign Secretary and I look forward to meeting Foreign Minister Djuric at the Berlin Process meeting of Western Balkans Foreign Ministers, that the UK will host next month. In visits to Serbia across the year, the former Foreign Secretary, UK Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, Dame Karen Pierce, and I have stressed to the Serbian leadership that all action to manage protests should be proportionate, legal, and respect fundamental rights to peaceful freedom of expression and assembly. Noting with concern recent violent clashes, including with the police, we have continued to be clear - including in our contact through our Embassy in Belgrade - that incidents should be fully investigated and perpetrators of crimes held to account.