Lords committee hears from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister for Europe and Special Envoy to the Western Balkans
Friday 8 December 2023
On Wednesday 13 December 2023 at 10.35am, the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee will hold an evidence session that will consider the UK’s policy towards the Western Balkans and the work of the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the region. It presents an opportunity to scrutinise the Government’s commitment to “step up engagement with…the Western Balkans…to boost their prosperity, security, and resilience to Russian interference”, as set out in the 2023 Integrated Review Refresh.
The session will be available to watch live or on demand at Parliament TV, or attend in person in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster.
Giving evidence will be:
- Leo Docherty MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO);
- Air Chief Marshal The Lord Peach GBE KCB DL, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Western Balkans; and
- Victoria Billing, FCDO Director, Europe.
Questions will include:
- What is your assessment of the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo? Are numbers sufficient to maintain security in Kosovo and how long will the additional British troops remain deployed?
- In your view, what role, if any, did elements within the Serbian government or security establishment play in arming and training the insurgents that were involved in the recent violence in Kosovo, including the monastery siege in September? What steps are being taken to secure the border between Serbia and Kosovo to prevent the influx of weapons and paramilitaries?
- How worried are you about stability and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina? What steps is the UK Government taking to tackle the political impasse and the actions of the leadership of Republika Srpska?
- Post-Brexit, how is the UK ensuring that it retains influence in the region and is not left out of the room when key negotiations are held? Are there occasions when the UK can be more flexible and provide support to the Western Balkans in ways that the EU cannot?
- How have the UK’s policy towards the Western Balkans and individual bilateral relations been impacted by the challenge of illegal migration, given that in 2022 a significant proportion of irregular migrants arriving in the UK on small boats were from the region?
