Written question asked by Crispin Blunt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 17 November 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 30 November 1999. It was answered by Keith Vaz (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when, and in what form, he received the application that the OSCE verifiers were unable to do their job owing to the escalating violence in Kosovo before 19th March.

Answer: Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when, and in what form, he received the application that the OSCE verifiers were unable to do their job owing to the escalating violence in Kosovo before 19 March. [98559] Mr. Vaz: The decision to withdraw the OSCE verifiers was made in Vienna on 19 March by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office following a full meeting of the Contact Group plus the then OSCE Troika (Austria, Poland) under the chairmanship of Norway, as Chairman-in-Office. The decision to withdraw the OSCE verifiers was made in the light of the failed negotiations in Paris and, in particular, the deteriorating situation on the ground in Kosovo caused by the Serbian military offensive.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 340 c162W; 98559
Session: 1999-00
Subjects: Deployment Peacekeeping operations Monitoring Yugoslavia Kosovo Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe