Lloyd Axworthy

[Kosovo, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, it is very important to continue with the negotiating process between all players in the Kosovo crisis, particularly the UN secretary general, the Russians and NATO members.

As I told the NDP members of the national defence committee at the last meeting, it is very important to look at all options. But, right now, the best option is to pursue the German proposals and to continue to encourage the interest of all players in the plan. This is a national priority.

[Kosovo, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States is fully responsible for whatever decisions he takes within his own country, just as we take our own sovereign decisions in this country.

As we said in the House, there has been no decision by NATO on any activation of ground forces other than for peacekeeping purposes. We have made no decision within this government. As the Prime Minister has said, we will consult with parliament before any decision is made.

The Americans are doing that to support whatever activities they may be doing. But I can give the hon. member every single assurance that what we have said about the Canadian position still stands.

[Kosovo, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it may be of interest to the hon. member to know that yesterday afternoon I spent two and a half hours at the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade giving a full briefing and answering something like 60 or 70 questions about Kosovo.

I gave those answers to the extent of what I knew. I gave the committee the responses that we could provide and I tried to take into account all of the recommendations that were made.

I spent two and a half hours before a committee, combined with a briefing last week. We have agreed to have bi-weekly briefings. We are here in question period every day. We provide any written materials required. I think that we are keeping Canadians and the opposition particularly well informed.

[Kosovo, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as I reported to the House yesterday, I had a very long and extensive discussion with the Russian foreign minister yesterday on this topic.

We talked about the broad outlines of a peace plan. We also talked about the important role that Russia could play in helping to bring it about and whether there could be a Russian contribution.

As I reported to the House, I think the discussion was very constructive. I found the Russian foreign minister to be very anxious, as we all are, to find a peaceful resolution.

I can assure the hon. member that we are engaging actively with Russia, as are other countries, to make sure they will be able to work in co-operation with us in finding a solution.

[Kosovo, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, at this point nobody, including the Germans, have made any specific details as to who would be involved.

The important objective is to get the agreement of the Milosevic government to have an international presence to protect the refugees and to make sure that the integrity of any peace agreement is honoured.

There is a proposal that, once that basic level of agreement is met, there could be a meeting of the G-8 foreign ministers to discuss in more detail the responsibilities, the command and the contributions. However, at this point in time, as I have said in the House before, it is basically a principle and a concept. No one has yet put forward the specific details which the hon. member is requesting.

[Kosovo, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I recognize the good intentions of members of the New Democratic Party. They keep coming back to the uniting for peace resolution. I keep coming back to the point that there is active diplomatic initiatives under way.

I had discussions this morning with the secretary general who put up a five point program last week, which has now been reflected in the G-8 meetings in the proposition put forward by the German government.

The secretary general himself is actively working to secure agreement on those five points. If the secretary general is interested in that proposal, I think the New Democratic Party may restrain itself on its uniting for peace resolution until we see how that works out.

[Kosovo, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to say that the Prime Minister did have a very important meeting with the leaders of a number of major Canadian churches this morning for well over an hour.

It was one of those particularly important exchanges because of the morality and the sense of urgency the churches brought. I can also say that I think they understood as well that Canada is actively engaged in trying to stop as much as it can through NATO the persecution, the violation, the harassment and the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Kosovars. That in itself is a very important moral stand to take.

[Kosovo, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I agree very much with the hon. member that it is very important to bring the maximum pressure against the perpetrators of the violence that is going on in Kosovo.

I want to inform the hon. member and the House that Canada co-sponsored a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Commission which condemned the ethnic cleansing, which demanded an immediate cessation of the persecution of Kosovars, and which asked the international community to support the work of the international criminal tribunal.

I am pleased to say that resolution passed with 44 votes for, one against and six abstentions. It shows the mobilization of support we can get against this kind of violence.

[Kosovo, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt there have been reported incidents of incursion across the borders. It has not constituted a major intervention. It has been an attempt in terms of the conflict between the UCK and Serbian forces themselves.

NATO ministers and NATO itself have made a very clear statement. We will not in any way accept any interference or any transgression across those borders. We guarantee the safety and security of Macedonia and Albania.

[Kosovo, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has said on many occasions, we are always prepared and interested to bring to parliament for its consideration important initiatives that we must take internationally. At the same time we are saying that we must carefully examine this question of a vote because it begins to provide serious limits on the fundamental issue of cabinet government. We are very interested in having the full Commons take note of these initiatives and express its point of view. Those were my words.