Kosovo and the Western Balkans Region

Lord Purvis of Tweed Excerpts

Tuesday 6th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, one thing is very clear in Kosovo and, as my noble friend said, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. When you visit on the ground, as I did last year in Sarajevo, you can feel and see the growing assertiveness of Russian influence in these key areas, which is very much in evidence. While we call for Russia to respect the sovereignty of these key nations, it is evident that those leading some of the Serb causes, such as Mr Dodik in the so-called Republika Srpska, are becoming ever more assertive. That is why the United Kingdom took steps to sanction such individuals.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, the replenishment of KFOR is regrettably necessary, and I welcome the fact that the UK has announced that it is going to replenish the 80 personnel there. I commend the Minister on his commitment to peacekeeping forces, as demonstrated just before Recess at the event where he, I and the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, met peacekeepers of the UK contributions. Just two years ago, the contribution from the UK was over 400 personnel but, according to the UN Association, the UK is now 50th in the world for our contribution to global peacekeeping forces. Will he please tell his colleagues in the MoD that now is the time to increase the number of UK personnel able to be deployed for peacekeeping forces around the world?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, we take considered decisions on the deployment of UK forces for international missions in terms of our support for both NATO and the United Nations. I am proud of the fact that we have consistently been strong supporters of troop-contributing countries in the UN system—we are one of the largest contributors. We have troops who serve through various UN mandates as well. We look at the particular mandate to see what is required. The other thing to note is the strong technical and training support that the MoD and UK troops provide to many nations across the world, which is very much valued.