BONN Britain, France and Germany yesterday agreed on a tripartite effort to ban antipersonnel landmines worldwide and said they would intensify cooperation in arms control and disarmament. The Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and Germany, Mr Robin Cook, Mr Herve de Charette and Mr Klaus Kinkel, made the announcement in a joint statement issued in Bonn after Mr Cook met his German counterpart. Earlier he had met Mr de Charette in Paris and agreed on a text.
"The three Foreign Ministers of Germany, Britain and France agreed to intensify their close cooperation in the area of arms control and disarmament," the statement said. "They agreed to give particular priority to the early conclusion of an effective, legally binding international agreement to ban world wide the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti personnel landmines."
Mr Cook said he hoped that his trip to Paris and Bonn would mark the start of a new era in Britain's relations with Europe after what he called a sterile and fruitless period of confrontation.