Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

We believe that an international inquiry should be held. Perhaps there was an initial rush to judgment. Without taking a partisan view, I recognise the objective need for an international inquiry.

Certain issues arise in respect of Kosovo but, as I have argued previously, there are differences. The exercise of self-determination does not normally allow for changes to frontiers outside of decolonisation but there are grounds to conclude that exemptions are permitted in the case of fundamental abuses of human rights such as the mass killings and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo during the 1990s. From a practical perspective, the restoration of Serbian rule was unimaginable. The comparison is, therefore, not direct, although the Russians have questioned the level of consistency on the part of the EU.

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