TNAG-2612-FCO40-3803-International-support-from-European-countries-regarding-the--1992 — Page 6

Declaration on Cooperation between Foreign Ministries and Embassies

1.

At the German/British Heads of Mission Conference in Leipzig on 30 October 1991 the two Foreign Ministers agreed, with the focus at that stage primarily on the Soviet Union, that there should henceforth be closer cooperation between the two Foreign Ministries and the Embassies of the two countries,

with a view to:

increasing the exchange of Embassy reporting;

ensuring regular bilateral discussion of matters of current

importance;

investigating the scope for the sharing and/or pooling between Embassies of support services and physical facilities.

2. Since then, the two Foreign Ministers have signed a Memorandum of Understanding providing for the colocation of their Embassies in Alma Ata. Agreement has also been reached for the British representative in Minsk to be based on the premises of the German Mission. There are discussions between officials on the possibilities for further colocation projects in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere, including the possibility of joint projects in Africa and Latin America.

3. Having noted with satisfaction the progress thus made towards the aims established at Leipzig, the two Foreign Ministers have concluded that further steps should now be

taken to extend this developing pattern of cooperation on the basis, as before, of reciprocity and non-exclusivity.