Mr. David Cooney:

I see we are up against time. We have answered a number of parliamentary questions on Bosnia-Herzegovina. Progress has been very disappointing. Progress appeared likely and there seemed to be a coming together before the elections at the end of last year. However, it has dissipated. Nobody wants to see progress in Bosnia-Herzegovina more than we do, but as we have pointed out in answers to the more recent parliamentary questions, at the end of the day only the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina can resolve this matter. We cannot circumvent arrangements on the ground. Unless and until the people can come together and implement meaningful political structures and introduce the necessary reforms, we are not able to move forward. That country needs to get itself ready for EU membership; that is effectively what I am saying.

The same applies to Macedonia. The name is an issue, but the progress for which we had hoped on the political front has not been as forthcoming as we had hoped. The political leadership needs to take matters in hand. There has been more constructive engagement on the name issue of late and one is hopeful progress can be achieved. If that were the only obstacle to progress, that would be one thing, but there are things that need to be done on the ground.

Again, there are positive signs on Albania, but we are not there yet. All of these countries need to join the European Union. The Union will be better when they join, but they need to introduce the reforms necessary to be able to be members of it.

I was in Zimbabwe last year to view the situation on the ground. On our return we actively tried to get the EU embargo lifted. Everyone we met there, including people who had been the victims of torture, said sanctions were not working. There was a partial lifting of sanctions. It is a country that still has problems, but Ireland is engaged bilaterally and we are more than ready to get engaged to a much greater extent once it has a stable political system. We are awaiting the new constitution. We have to see elections, on which there is much riding. However, we are more than ready to become engaged with Zimbabwe on a bilateral basis.

As Mr. Donoghue knows more about Russia than I will ever know, I ask him to answer the points on Russia and the Magnitsky issue