Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs written question – answered at on 17 October 2005.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list individuals subject to an EU travel ban whom he has met over the last three years.
EU travel bans prevent listed individuals from travelling to the EU, except in the case of specified exemptions set out in the EU Common Position on Zimbabwe. The UK meets its obligations fully in upholding these travel bans, which it believes are an effective measure in applying pressure against regimes which have particularly poor records on human rights, democracy, good governance and the rule of law.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has of course not met any listed individuals in the EU in contravention of these travel bans. Nor has he had meetings with such individuals outside the EU.
At international meetings, such as those at the UN, British Ministers come into contact with representatives of foreign governments whatever our views of them, including those subject to EU travel bans. In the past, the Foreign Secretary has briefly come into contact with Zimbabwean President Mugabe, former Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge and current Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Mumbengegwi at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Foreign Secretary also occasionally met Foreign Minister Mumbengegwi in the course of normal diplomatic business in Mumbengegwi's previous role as ambassador to the UK, before his inclusion on the travel ban in 2005.
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