Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 March 2023.

British Ambassador to the Holy See gave opening remarks at the panel discussion ‘Conflict-Related Sexual Violence – Raising Awareness’ on 24 March 2023.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 March 2023.

The UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič gave a joint UK-EU statement on the 2 meetings on 24 March 2023.

Joint statement by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs, the Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, 24 March 2023:

The European Union and the United Kingdom today held the tenth meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee and second meeting of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement Partnership Council in London. The meetings took place in a constructive atmosphere building on the excellent cooperation between the Foreign Secretary and the Vice-President over recent months.

The Joint Committee welcomed the positive approach of both sides and adopted the new arrangements set out in the Windsor Framework. These arrangements address, in a definitive manner, the challenges in the operation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland over the last 2 years and the everyday issues faced by people and businesses in Northern Ireland, while supporting and protecting the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement in all its parts, and protecting the integrity of the European Union’s Single Market, and Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom’s internal market. Both sides agreed to work together intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor Framework. The United Kingdom and European Union also reaffirmed their intent to use all available mechanisms in the Framework to address and jointly resolve any relevant future issues that may emerge.

The Joint Committee also covered other important issues under the Withdrawal Agreement, in particular their joint work to protect the rights of EU citizens and UK nationals, addressing all relevant issues. Both sides agreed on the importance of continuing to support these citizens, and welcomed the efforts made over the past year to do so, including additional funding provided by both sides to external organisations.

The co-chairs also adopted the Withdrawal Agreement Annual Report for the year 2021 pursuant to Article 164(6) of the Withdrawal Agreement.

At the Partnership Council, the parties discussed implementation of the TCA and cooperation in a range of crucial areas including energy, trade and security and agreed on next steps.

Energy: They underlined the importance of collaboration over the past year as Europe decouples from Russian fossil fuels and highlighted the importance of dialogue on security of supply. They confirmed their commitment to progress work on the electricity trading arrangements envisaged in the TCA. They also discussed the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan.

Trade: They looked forward to the signing of Memoranda of Understanding on financial services and on intellectual property soon. They agreed to finalise preparation for the Working Groups in the areas of Technical Barriers to Trade as a matter of priority. They also discussed the UK Retained EU Law Bill and Bill of Rights Bill.

Security: They noted the close collaboration in support of Ukraine, and looked forward to dialogue provided for under the TCA in the areas of cybersecurity and counterterrorism. They also discussed the implementation of data protection safeguards for Passenger Name Records.

Union Programmes: They noted the openness of both sides to take forward discussions on association in the coming weeks.

The European Commission and the Government of the United Kingdom reaffirmed their desire to exploit fully the potential of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and maximise the potential of the relationship between the EU and the UK in ways that benefit both parties.

They agreed to remain in regular contact and looked forward to meeting again to take stock of the work of the Committees under the TCA.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 24 March 2023.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Downing Street today for talks on strengthening the close partnership between the United Kingdom and Israel.

The two leaders welcomed the signing of the UK-Israel 2030 Roadmap this week, which will drive our bilateral relationship forward and commit £20m in funding for joint science and technology projects over the next decade.

They expressed their backing for a modern free-trade agreement with cutting-edge service provisions and said their teams would work to progress this at pace.

The leaders discussed shared security and defence challenges, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the threat posed by Iran to regional stability. The Prime Minister set out the UK’s analysis of the situation in Ukraine and the importance of continued international support to defend their sovereignty.

On Iran, they discussed the UK and Israel’s significant concern about Iran’s destabilising activity, and agreed that our governments would continue to work closely together to push back against aggression and manage the risk of nuclear proliferation.

The Prime Minister also expressed his solidarity with Israel in the face of terrorist attacks in recent months. The UK would always stand with Israel and its ability to defend itself. At the same time, the PM outlined international concern at growing tensions in the West Bank and the risk of undermining efforts towards the two state solution. He encouraged all efforts to de-escalate, particularly ahead of the upcoming religious holidays.

The Prime Minister stressed the importance of upholding the democratic values that underpin our relationship, including in the proposed judicial reforms in Israel.

The leaders welcomed the chance to meet in person to progress our important partnership, and the Prime Minister looked forward to visiting Israel at the earliest opportunity.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 March 2023.

The UK and international partners have issued a statement following a meeting of Syria Envoys in Amman on March 21 2023.

The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United Kingdom, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the European Union, and the League of Arab States following their meeting in Amman, Jordan on March 21, 2023, to discuss the current situation in Syria in the aftermath of the earthquakes.

We expressed our heartfelt condolences for the immense devastation and loss of life caused by the February 6 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, as well as our steadfast commitment to alleviate the suffering of those affected.  We encouraged the international community to provide humanitarian assistance – including both emergency response and early recovery projects – to all Syrians in need, especially those in the most affected areas.  In this regard, we welcomed the outcomes of the March 20, 2023, international donors’ conference in Brussels to support the people in Türkiye and Syria, and we also looked forward to the seventh annual Brussels Conference on the Future of Syria and the Region on June 15, 2023.

We reiterated our call for a nationwide ceasefire and for continuous and unhindered humanitarian access to all Syrians through all modalities, including both cross-border and cross-line.  We called for the maintenance and expansion of United Nations cross-border aid, for which there is no alternative in scope or scale.  In this regard, we welcomed the recent facilitation by the Syrian authorities of UN cross-border humanitarian access through the Bab al-Salam and al-Rai crossings and called for this to continue.

We also welcomed UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen’s briefing and reaffirmed our support for UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 March 2023.

UK Export Finance CEO will call on UK businesses to grasp opportunities to export to Albania.

• Tim Reid, CEO of UK Export Finance, the Albanian Prime Minister and Finance Minister will today outline their £4 billion ambition for a closer export relationship
• This could deliver a minimum of £800 million in value to businesses across the UK
• Tim Reid will issue a ‘call to action’ to British businesses to export to Albania using UKEF’s attractive terms to help raise debt finance
• The two countries will agree to be partners in economic development and sustainable projects in Albania and the wider Western Balkans

The Chief Executive of UK Export Finance (UKEF), Tim Reid, today meets with the Albanian Prime Minster, Edi Rama and Finance Minister, Delina Ibrahimaj, to cement their £4 billion ambition for a closer UK-Albania export relationship.  This £4 billion marks a doubling of the previously published market risk appetite for UKEF support for Albania and signals the huge opportunity available for UK exporters.

Total UK exports to Albania reached £144 million in the 12 months to September 2022, an increase of £97 million in current prices on the previous year. The visit will build on this growing trade relationship and result in an agreement to work more closely.

Tim Reid, CEO of UK Export Finance will say:

There is significant opportunity here for UK businesses.  The volume of trade with Albania is increasing dramatically, showing the huge appetite for British exports. With UKEF support more companies can reap the rewards of exporting.

We also welcome the recent launch of the British Chamber of Commerce in Albania. This new organisation will help connect British and Albanian businesses.

Our closer relationship with Albania will unlock a new phase of collaboration in sectors such as renewable energy, healthcare, and transport. Last year we celebrated our 100th year of trade relations, I’m looking forward to continuing our work with Albania and strengthening our great exporting relationship.

Deals made between the two countries would help grow the UK economy, support job creation and help deliver the government’s wider levelling up agenda. A £4 billion ambition would mean a minimum £800 million value to British businesses. This is because Albanian buyers would be required to source from the UK supply chain under the conditions of UKEF’s finance.

Delina Ibrahimaj, the Albanian Finance Minister, will say:

Albania has a pipeline of key infrastructure projects that need overseas investment. This agreement to work more closely with the UK should send a signal to British business that Albania has markets ready for your products and UKEF can support you in your export ambitions.

UKEF has an International Export Finance Executive based in the Western Balkans who works alongside other government teams in these countries as well as covering Central and Eastern Europe. The IEFE’s work closely with the overseas buyers to showcase the UK supply chain. They are on hand all over the world to discuss financing options available from UKEF to support the exports of UK goods and/or services.

An example of UKEF support in the Eastern European region includes a £360 million guaranteed loan for the construction of a 5G-ready motorway in Serbia. The UKEF support for this motorway project, announced in October 2021, is creating value worth approximately £125 million to the UK economy.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 March 2023.

Jill Morris, presented her credentials to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 22 March 2023 and officially started her tour as British Ambassador to Turkey. She is the UK’s first female Ambassador to Turkiye.

British Ambassador Jill Morris CMG paid a visit to Anıtkabir on her first full day in office. She was accompanied by Embassy Staff.

Jill Morris laid a wreath at the mausoleum and observed a minute’s silence before signing the Anıtkabir Memorial Book. She wrote the following lines:

I am deeply honoured and proud to represent the UK in Turkiye, laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and paying my heartfelt tribute and respect to the father of modern Turkiye. The UK and Turkiye have strong, deep rooted relations, including as allies in NATO. I look forward to strengthening further our partnership as we celebrate the centenary of the Turkish Republic in 2023.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 March 2023.

The UK is providing additional support to the government of Malawi, following devastating floods caused by Cyclone Freddy.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 23 March 2023.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 March 2023.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council briefing on Syria.

I thank Special Envoy Pedersen and Mr Talahma for their briefing and for the work of their teams

Thank you President, and thanks to the briefers for their updates and statements.

President, 12 years ago, the Syrian people peacefully took to the streets to demand freedom, political reform, and a government that respects and upholds human rights. The Assad regime met those demands with a brutal assault against them.

The earthquake last month added further tragedy to this crisis. We continue to direct our support to the Syrian people, providing $4.6 billion in humanitarian assistance since 2011. In the wake of the earthquake, we announced an additional $52 million across Syria and Turkiye to fund food, medical supplies and shelter. These resources must reach the over 4.1 million people in North-West Syria in the most effective and efficient means possible, including through predictable cross-border access. We welcome the UN’s efforts to deliver this and scale up.

But let us not make the mistake of thinking the conflict is over. Even since the earthquake hostilities have resumed, with numerous examples of Regime force attacks harming civilians. And the billion dollar narco-industry of Captagon stemming from Syria presents a new and destabilizing risk to the region.

So, as the Secretary-General said on the anniversary of the conflict, the support and solidarity provided in the aftermath of the earthquake must be channeled into renewed energy on the political track. We need to address the fundamental issues behind the conflict.

An inclusive and accountable end to the conflict is urgently needed. Security Council resolution 2254 is the framework to deliver the sustainable and lasting peace that the people of Syria deserve. We welcome all efforts to make progress on this track, including the important efforts of Special Envoy Pedersen and Member States in the region this week. I urge all colleagues in this chamber to play their role in delivering peace for the Syrian people.

President, next week, we will hear from the Secretary-General about the plight of the families who are still searching for their loved ones and his call to consider establishing a mechanism for the missing. This is an issue that affects all Syrians, on all sides of this conflict. We hope that the United Nations can come together to give them some answers.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 March 2023.

Canadian Ambassador Jocelyn Kinnear gives a statement on behalf of 37 OSCE participating States on invoking the Moscow Mechanism for deteriorating human rights in Belarus.

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following delegations: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

We have read with great concern the report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights presented on 22 March 2023, once again documenting the dire and continuous deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus. The 1975 Helsinki Final Act recognizes respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as one of its ten guiding principles, integrating human rights in a regional security framework and placing their protection on the same par as politico-military and economic issues.  As such, the protection and promotion of human rights in Belarus continues to be of our direct and legitimate concern as a vital basis for the overall security in the OSCE region.

The report of the Moscow Mechanism Mission released on 5 November 2020 concluded that there were systematic human rights violations and abuses committed with impunity and on a massive scale by Belarusian authorities before, during and following the fraudulent 9 August 2020 presidential election. The Moscow Mechanism report made a number of recommendations, including the calling of new, genuine presidential elections based on international standards, putting an end to violence against the people of Belarus, ensuring accountability for victims of abuses, the release of those unjustly detained, engagement and dialogue with representatives of political opposition and civil society, and establishing an OSCE/ODIHR observation mission.

In the two years that have passed since the publication of that report, the Belarusian authorities have failed to address the serious allegations of violations and abuses identified in it and have wholly disregarded its recommendations. Moreover, the Belarusian authorities have taken further actions that both deepen and expand our concerns about Belarus’ fulfilment of OSCE human dimension commitments, including through the continued enabling of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

We have repeatedly raised our concerns in the Permanent Council and other OSCE fora, including under the OSCE Vienna Mechanism, but the Belarusian Delegation’s replies have continuously ignored our legitimate concerns. These include, but are not limited to:

• detention of nearly 1,500 political prisoners, with numbers continuing to rise;
• intimidation, harassment, arbitrary or unlawful arrest, detention, and imprisonment of human rights defenders, members of the political opposition, journalists and other media actors, lawyers, labour activists, persons belonging to national minorities, and civil society groups;
• labelling of thousands of citizens and organisations as extremist and the shutdown of nearly all independent non-governmental organisations;
• insufficient access to legal and medical assistance for those arrested and/or detained;
• lack of due process and respect for the right to a fair trial as provided for under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes retroactive application of law, and instituting special criminal proceedings (in absentia) against persons who are outside Belarus;
• torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons in custody, including sexual and gender-based violence;
• excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, including those protesting Belarus’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine;
• eradication of independent labour unions;
• efforts to silence independent media and enact severe restrictions on access to information, including through internet surveillance, and censorship;
• systematically tightened legislation limiting political freedoms and imposition of sentences which contravene rule of law standards and are intended to deter and punish dissent;
• extension of the death penalty to vaguely defined “attempts to carry out acts of terrorism and murders of government officials or public figures”; and
• impunity for the human rights violations and abuses described above.

The above policies and actions of the Belarusian authorities continue to give rise to a particularly serious threat to the fulfilment of OSCE human dimension commitments, including those on participating States meeting their obligations under international law.  To underscore our concerns about the continued deterioration of the internal human rights situation in Belarus and to explore more recent development of serious abuses linked to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, we invoke paragraph 12 of the 1991 Document of the Moscow meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the (then) CSCE in order to establish a fact-finding mission of experts to examine the human dimension issues identified above, with a particular emphasis on developments since the conclusion of the 5 November 2020 Moscow Mechanism report, especially the circumstances surrounding the growing number of persons detained for politically motivated reasons, as well as recent legislative amendments to inter alia the Criminal Code and the Law on Countering Extremism.

With a view to contributing to current and any future efforts to promote accountability for human rights violations in Belarus, including by civil society and the United Nations, we encourage the mission of experts to establish the facts and report on them, and to advise the Republic of Belarus, the OSCE, and the international community, on possible solutions to the issues raised.

We remind Belarusian authorities that, in accordance with paragraph 10 of the Moscow Document, an expert mission, one member of which may be chosen by the Republic of Belarus, should be able to give an objective and unbiased report and recommendations on these issues.

We urge the Belarusian authorities to cooperate fully and facilitate the work of the mission of experts, as per paragraph 6 of the OSCE’s Moscow Document.

Thank you, Mr Chairman.