Foreign & Commonwealth Office Diplomatic Wing
Kiev and Alma Ata and a Consulate - General in St. Petersburg (further representation is planned for Minsk). The UK played a leading part in the co- ordination of economic support for Russia and the other new states, as a member of the G7 through the Washington Conference process and by representing Russia in her negotiations with the IMF, which led to her early membership. Excellent relations between the UK and Russia were further enhanced when President Yeltsin paid an official visit to the UK in November. The UK has continued to support democratisation and economic reform in central and eastern Europe, both diplomatically and through direct assistance, in particular the Know How Fund. As EC President, the UK hosted a summit meeting with the leaders of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia in October to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation and political dialogue.
• The United Nations: in January the Prime Minister chaired a special summit meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to seek ways for the UN to improve its capacity for preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peacemaking. A far-reaching report by the new UN Secretary General was the result. The UK played a key role in launching the UN's largest-ever peacekeeping operations, in the former Yugoslavia and in Cambodia, where the UK also played a prominent role in efforts to bring about a comprehensive political settlement. As a Permanent Member of the UNSC, the UK was actively engaged in UN efforts to solve a wide range of disputes, including direct talks between the parties to the Cyprus dispute, where the UK played a leading role in supporting the efforts of the Secretary-General to broker a settlement.
●NATO and the WEU: the UK has promoted NATO's continuing adaptation to change; its programme of cooperation with eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union; and its decision to support international peacekeeping operations under the auspices of other organisations such as the CSCE. The UK contributed to the development of the WEU as the main vehicle for the European defence identity, enlarging its membership and giving it operational capabilities, thereby strengthening the European pillar of the Alliance.
●Political and Military Developments: the long- running negotiations for a Chemical Weapons Convention, in which the UK played a key role, were finally concluded; the UK is urging all states to join the Convention. We also played an active part in implementing the CFE Treaty after its provisional entry into force on 17 July.
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● Non-proliferation: the UK has had an important hand in a number of achievements: the preparatory process for the 1995 Conference to extend the Non- Proliferation Treaty has been launched; the Missile Technology Control Regime has been extended; and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group has agreed controls on exports of nuclear dual-use equipment. The UN Register of Arms Transfers - a British initiative - is now being effectively implemented. In meetings of the Five Permanent Security Council Members, agreement was reached on common guidelines for the export of technology related to weapons of mass destruction.
The CSCE: the fourth follow-up meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe took place in Helsinki in March-July. The EC's proposal on conflict prevention (based on a UK draft) was a major element of the Final Document adopted by the CSCE summit on 10 July. The CSCE agreed to establish the post of Secretary General - an EC initiative - at its Council meeting in Stockholm in December.
● Iraq, Libya and the Middle East Peace Process: the UK continued to be active in the follow-up to the Gulf War, putting heavy pressure on Iraq to comply with the relevant Security Council Resolutions. The UK supported the UN's efforts to eliminate Iraqi weapons of mass destruction; demarcate the Iraq-Kuwait border; and continued, with its American and French partners, to protect the Iraqi Kurds of Northern Iraq. In September the UK joined in the enforcement of a no-fly zone in Southern Iraq, aimed at monitoring the Iraqi government's treatment of people in the South. It co-sponsored two UN Security Council Resolutions aimed at ending Libya's support for terrorism and putting the two Libyans suspected of the Lockerbie bombing on trial. The EC gave its full support to the Middle East Peace Process, launched in Madrid in
October 1991.
⚫Hong Kong: the new Governor of Hong Kong, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, put forward proposals with the UK's full support to ensure that the last elections for the Legislative Council to be held under British Administration in 1995 will be broadly-based, fair and open. Work on parts of the new airport and the supporting infrastructure has continued, although the Chinese side has still not given its agreement to financing arrangements for the project as a whole.
●Africa: the UK continued to promote good
government by sending assistance/observers for the
elections in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Angola,
Seychelles and Ethiopia; and took a leading role in
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