Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Monday, 14 February 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 February 2000. It was answered by Lord Hain (Labour) on Monday, 21 February 2000 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the sanctions policy towards (a) Yugoslavia and (b) Iraq.

Answer: Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the sanctions policy towards (a) Yugoslavia and (b) Iraq. [110587] Mr. Hain: UN sanctions against the former Yugoslavia played an important role in bringing Milosevic to the negotiating table at Dayton. EU sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have been targeted to place additional pressure on the repressive regime, restricting the ability of Milosevic and his associates to travel and to finance their activities and underlining the political isolation of Serbia from the European mainstream. Sanctions against Iraq have successfully contained Saddam Hussein for over nine years and have significantly reduced the threat from his weapons of mass destruction. The effort the Iraqi regime and its friends put into their campaign to have sanctions lifted is evidence of the impact of sanctions on the Iraqi leadership.

Secondary information