Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Mr Paulin Makaya has successfully departed the Republic of the Congo (RoC) and is now in the UK. The UK does not have a resident Embassy in the RoC, but engaged with the RoC authorities on his case through our Embassy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The UK's consular team in Kinshasa was engaged with Mr Makaya's case from his initial arrest through to his later release from...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: I welcome the decision by the French authorities on 13 January to relax the border restrictions which were introduced on 18 December. The UK and France are in regular contact about the requirements for travel between our countries. FCDO travel advice is kept up to date as restrictions change.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK regularly engages with indigenous leaders and civil society organisations regarding the Amazon. Senior HMG officials discussed the indigenous lands' situation with Brazilian authorities most recently in December 2021. We have hosted indigenous leaders at our Embassy in Brasilia and we are in contact with the Brazilian National Foundation for Indigenous People (FUNAI), which is...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Our statement with Troika partners (UK/Norway/US) and the EU on 4 January reinforced our support for Sudan's democratic transition. We urged the Sudanese military and other actors to engage in dialogue to secure a lasting solution to the current political crisis. We therefore welcome the UN's announcement that they will facilitate talks to help resolve the situation. The Sudan Quad (UK, Saudi...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We are concerned by recent incidents of violence and the tragic loss of life, including in Aweil and Rumameer counties. We are in touch with partners, including the UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan (UNMISS) and in Abyei (UNISFA) to better understand these incidents and where the international community can help to reduce intercommunal tensions and conflict. In the meantime the British...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK Government is monitoring the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border following an increase in tensions last year. Through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and bilateral engagement in Baku and Yerevan, UK officials continue to urge the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities to settle all outstanding matters including the peaceful negotiation of their borders, in...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The Government condemns all incidents of intercommunal violence in Nigeria, including in the Middle Belt, which has a devastating impact on affected communities. Islamic extremism is a driver of conflict involving terrorist groups in the North East. The drivers of intercommunal violence elsewhere in Nigeria, including in the Middle Belt, are complex and frequently relate to competition over...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We are aware of the petition submitted by the groups MyRight2Vote, Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation, and Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe. The onus is on the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that all citizens have the ability to vote in line with the constitution, section 67 of which states that "Every Zimbabwean citizen above 18 years has the right to vote secretly in elections"....
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We are aware of the petition submitted by the groups MyRight2Vote, Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation, and Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe. The onus is on the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that all citizens have the ability to vote in line with the constitution, section 67 of which states that "Every Zimbabwean citizen above 18 years has the right to vote secretly in elections"....
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK Government strongly believes that the rights of individuals and independent media to express opinions and peacefully challenge authority are essential to a free and open society, and we launched our media freedom campaign in 2018 to shine a global spotlight on media freedom. We regularly meet with the Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission to discuss...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK takes very seriously talk of secession and other threats to undo the progress of the last twenty-six years in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and remains committed to helping BiH maintain lasting peace and stability. The EU stabilisation force, EUFOR, plays a vital role in safeguarding peace and security. Although the UK no longer participates in EUFOR following our withdrawal from the...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is not considered international trade and is, therefore, not captured in our official trade statistics. As set out in the July 2021 Command Paper, the UK is clear that significant trade diversion is occurring and the thresholds for A16 safeguards have been met. The percentage change in trade value since the UK withdrawal from the EU on 31...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We continue to encourage the Nigerian Government to take urgent action to protect those at risk of intercommunal violence across the Middle Belt and implement long-term solutions that address root causes of such violence. We are increasing our engagement with state governments in affected areas, including Plateau, Kaduna and Benue States. We are also working with the Federal Government to...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK takes its responsibilities as a nuclear weapon state seriously and will continue to encourage other states to do likewise. We consider the avoidance of war between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as our foremost responsibilities.â¯The joint statement by the leaders of the five Nuclear-Weapon States - including Russia - issued on 3 January underscores our...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The Government disclosed the Equalities Assessment to the International Planned Parenthood Federation as part of their Judicial Review claim. Having considered usual practices across Government, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has no plans to publish the overarching Equalities Assessment for Official Development Assistance for its spend in financial year 2021-2022. We will...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Article 4 of the Protocol is clear that Northern Ireland is part of the customs territory of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, Article 6 of the Protocol provides that the Protocol does not prevent the United Kingdom from ensuring unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom's internal market. The Government also provided additional...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: As G7 Foreign Ministers made clear in their 12 December statement, we support the efforts of France and Germany in the Normandy Format to achieve full implementation of the Minsk agreements in order to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The Prime Minister underlined to President Putin on 13 December that Russia had to respect the terms of the Minsk agreements. The Foreign Secretary...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The importance of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which brought an end to the 1990s conflicts, cannot be overstated. However, it was worded to enable local actors to make changes in the future. As Lord Ashdown said, "Dayton is the floor, not the ceiling". The United Kingdom remains committed to BiH's security, democracy and prosperity. The...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: During the 1990 discussions on German reunification, no written assurances about the further enlargement of NATO beyond Germany were made to Mr Gorbachev or other representatives of the Government of the Soviet Union. Despite consistent assertion, Russian leaders have been unable to produce any written evidence that such assurances were made.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Decisions on EU enlargement are for EU Member States to make. We will continue to support all countries of the Western Balkans in their sovereign choice to pursue Euro-Atlantic integration.