It’s difficult to comprehend the size of the human rights issues that face people in Guatemala and Honduras, as well as related countries. It’s often difficult to see how state funded and run human rights groups can effectively put pressure on national governments and one is left with the view that strengthened civil society and effective democracy will be much more effective.
No conversation about the UK and its relationship with the European Union is complete without someone talking about Norway at some stage or another. We don’t want to be like Norway, say some whilst others suggest that Norway is an example of what the future for a United Kingdom outside the EU could look like. Norway is an economically successful country and not part of the EU. But not all is quite as straightforward as it seems as we found out on our visit to Oslo in September this year.
The United Kingdom’s close friendship with Norway, forged in the dark days of Norway’s WWII occupation, remains strong despite the passage of time since 1945 and the dramatic change in Norway’s situation now that oil and gas have made it one of the richest countries in the world. Indeed, our recent delegation visit to Norway found that the wartime experience was still a strong factor in Norwegian perceptions of the UK, and that Norway was happy to be investing parts of its wealth in the UK.
Firm political ties were in evidence throughout our visit to the UAE hosted by HE Mohammed Ahmed Al-Murr, Speaker of the Federal National Council. In roundtable discussions, there was a strong emphasis on the collective nature of their work, with members represented the UAE in their deliberations, not their individual emirates. The UAE is a developing democracy and the FNC demonstrated greater involvement for younger people than in the past by expanding the electorate from 7,000 hand-picked electors to over 100,000 in the near future.
The visit of a UK delegation to Nepal from 14-19 September provided an important opportunity to resume inter-parliamentary visits between Britain and Nepal with the establishment of its Constituent Assembly after successful democratic elections in November 2013. It was also timely as the 200th anniversary of bilateral relations approches in 2016 and provided insights into the main constitutional issues facing the country. The UK delegation also saw the major contributions to Nepal’s development being made by DFID and the Gurkha Welfare Scheme.
While Ukraine’s troubles have captured world attention, another of Russia’s neighbours which suffered two annexations only six years ago – Georgia – has almost escaped notice. Every UK visitor to Georgia, however, is reminded of that country’s long-standing application to join not only the EU but NATO. Georgia has lost 29 soldiers in Afghanistan where it has made the largest human contribution to ISAF of any non-NATO country.
A joint BGIPU Haiti APPG delegation led by APPG Chair, Lord Griffiths, visited Haiti from 26 to 30 May 2014. The delegation met President Martelly, the President of the Senate and President of Chamber of Deputies at a time when tensions between these branches of government posed obstacle to consolidating democracy in the country. The delegation also met with Haitian civil society groups and representatives of the UK, Canada, EU, US and the UN peacekeeping operation, MINUSTAH to better determine potential areas where the UK Parliament might be able to assist Haitian counterparts in response to their visit to London in late 2013.
The BGIPU Chair, Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP, led a delegation to Poland from 31 March to 4 April, the first by a formal Parliamentary delegation since 1996. Key issues during the visit were the bi-lateral relationship, in the future of the EU and our respective positions and developments affecting Ukraine and the broader implications for European security. The delegation met with parliamentary counterparts, key government officials and included a visit to Krakow to learn more about inter-governmental relations between the central government and the regions.
The Armenian economy is sufficiently prosperous for there to be no need for traditional international bilateral aid from the UK. After the 1988 earthquake, the UK sent support and the Embassy and UK volunteers have made a real difference at the Lord Byron school at Gyumri, opened in 1990 by Margaret Thatcher during her first visit to the then Soviet Union.
The Delegation to Armenia had the opportunity to meet with prominent figures in the Armenian government and parliament during the programme. Discussions were dominated by the Armenian decision to seek membership of the Eurasian Customs Union and what the ramifications of this might be for the relationship with the EU, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the approaching centenary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
