Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to indicate, while accepting the urgent need for the EU to encourage Serbia's accession to the European Union, recognition is given to the equally important requirement to bring those wanted for war crimes such as the Bosnian Serb Army commander (details supplied) indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and Croatian Serb leader indicted for crimes against humanity are brought before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague thereby clearly demonstrating that the perpetrators of such atrocities are brought to justice; if he will endeavour to use his influence throughout the European Community to this end; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36121/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 102 and 386 together.

I can assure the Deputy that I recognise the need for all countries in the Western Balkans, including Serbia, to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The EU's Stabilisation and Association Agreement process provides the framework for cooperation on economic, political and legal matters aimed at bringing the Western Balkan countries towards the standards and principles required for EU accession. Cooperation with ICTY is a precondition for those wishing to conclude Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the EU - a precondition which the EU has enforced consistently and firmly. A Stabilisation and Association Agreement was signed with Serbia in April 2008. However, it was decided to defer ratification of the Agreement until the Council was satisfied with Serbia's cooperation with ICTY. Following a positive assessment regarding Serbia's ongoing cooperation with the Tribunal from the Chief Prosecutor, Ministers decided, by consensus, at the Foreign Affairs Council on 14 June 2010 to submit the Agreement to their national parliaments for ratification. At the same time, the Council again underlined that full cooperation with ICTY remains an essential element of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement process.

Serbia formally applied for EU membership in December 2009. The next step in the process is for the General Affairs Council to request an "avis", or opinion, from the European Commission. It is possible that this will be considered at the October General Affairs Council. I believe it is important that we acknowledge the substantial progress Serbia has made in the ten years since protests led to the end of the Miloševic regime. Recent months have seen a number of positive developments which demonstrate that Serbia's Government has moved away from the destructive politics of past decades. These positive developments include: the declaration by the Belgrade Parliament last March condemning the Srebrenica massacre; the handing over of the wartime notebooks of Ratko Mladic to the ICTY in May; the joint visit by the Serbian and Croatian Presidents to Bosnia for the Srebrenica commemoration this July; the indictment in September of nine former paramilitaries by the country's war crimes prosecutor over the killing of ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo conflict; and the joint EU-Serbia UN General Assembly resolution on Kosovo this September. When I met with Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic in New York last month he emphasised the importance Serbia attaches to EU integration. He also underlined Belgrade's commitment to working with ICTY.

The EU will continue to encourage Serbia as it rebuilds relations with its neighbours, allowing it to move further along on its path to the EU. At the same time, the EU will also insist that this path must see Serbia continuing to cooperate fully with ICTY in bringing the two indicted war criminals that remain at large to justice in The Hague.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide the most recent position as it pertains to the Saharawi people and their struggle for self-determination and independence. [36114/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland continues to support the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, as well as the continuing engagement of the United Nations in the search for a political solution in the territory based on the principle of self-determination. UN Secretary General Ban's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, is continuing his efforts to convene direct negotiations between the two sides, following the last such discussions held in March 2008. In an attempt to resume contact this year, Mr. Ross hosted a second round of informal discussions in New York in February following an initial round held in Austria in August 2009, but unfortunately he has had to report that so far there has been no real engagement between the two sides, Morocco and the Polisario, in resolving the outstanding issues. The major issue remains Morocco's refusal to allow a Referendum in the territory which would include an option of independence for the people of the Western Sahara. This has been provided for in a number of UN peace plans, and it is difficult to see that there can be any genuine self-determination without such a referendum. Mr. Ross visited the region in the early part of this year, and reported back to the UN Security Council in some detail.

In an effort to move beyond the current impasse, Mr Ross this summer started to visit the capitals of the so-called Group of Friends (this group is comprised of the UK, France, Spain, the U.S. and Russia). Mr Ross reported that these meetings revealed an interest in moving beyond the status quo and finding a solution. In addition, there was unanimous agreement on the need to intensify work on confidence-building measures, including the resumption of family visits by air, the early inauguration of family visits by road and other steps proposed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It is disappointing therefore that a recent family visit had to be aborted in September, particularly since Algeria, Morocco and the Saharawis had agreed to expand the Confidence-building Measures Programme in meetings with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees earlier in September. I urge all parties to resume these flights and build on the Confidence-building Measures Programme, and to implement the UNHCR proposal to allow family reunification visitors to travel by land as well as air to the Saharawis refugee camps, based in Tindouf, Algeria.

Issues pertaining to the Western Sahara are regularly raised at EU level within the framework of the EU-Morocco dialogue. The most recent EU - Morocco Summit took place in Granada on 7 March 2010. The EU conveyed its concerns over the situation of Western Sahara as well as the need to safeguard the rights of both Moroccan and Saharawi human rights defenders, and these concerns were reflected in the joint statement after the meeting.

Ireland will continue its dialogue with both Morocco and the Polisario, through their representatives based here in Ireland, to encourage support for the UN Secretary General's good office's mission and the efforts of Personal Envoy Ross to achieve some measure of political progress and increased confidence between both sides.