§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many diplomats in the British Embassy in Ukraine are engaged in trade promotion; and what monitoring he conducts of the comparable figures for other EU states. [110572]
§ Mr. BattleOne senior diplomat leads a team of four locally engaged staff on trade promotion in Kiev. Our Ambassador devotes about 20 per cent. of his time to this work as do other staff to a smaller degree.
A full review of our Embassy in Kiev was conducted in November last year. British Trade International, who now operate the trade support services of the FCO and DTI, take account of the positions of comparable EU states when planning the allocation of resources.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is the Government's policy to support Ukraine's aspiration for EU membership; and680W what representations he or his Department have received from Ukraine concerning Ukrainian membership of the EU. [110579]
§ Mr. VazWe support Ukraine's aspirations for closer relations with the EU, but consider it too early to consider the question of possible EU membership. The EU/Ukraine Partnership and Co-operation Agreement offers wide scope for closer relations and we encourage Ukraine to implement it fully. Ukraine Ministers have frequently requested EU support for their aspirations to EU membership. It was one of the topics raised with me yesterday by the Foreign Policy Adviser to the Ukrainian President.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Ukrainian Government about(a) Ukraine's weapons exports and (b) illegal export of arms from Ukraine. [110582]
§ Mr. VazMy right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made representations regarding reports of Ukrainian manufactured arms in Sierra Leone and Angola to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister on 1 February and 16 December 1999. The Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain) made similar representations to the Ukrainian Ambassador on 16 September 1999. A team of officials will travel to Ukraine in March to explore ways in which we can co-operate to combat illegal arms transfers in Africa. We do not believe that the Ukrainian Government is itself involved in illegal arms exports.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to other EU states by his Department concerning Ukrainian membership of the EU. [110580]
§ Mr. VazThe future of Ukraine's relations with the EU was discussed extensively with other EU member states during drafting of the EU Common Strategy on Ukraine, which was adopted at the Helsinki European Council in December 1999. The UK successfully argued that the Common Strategy should acknowledge Ukraine's European aspirations and welcome Ukraine's pro-European choice.