Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to hold discussions with his North Macedonian counterpart on that country's application to join NATO.

The UK strongly supports North Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic ambitions, including NATO membership. Most recently, the then Minister of State for Europe and the Americas discussed North Macedonia's accession to NATO with Foreign Minister Dimitrov in the margins of the Global Media Freedom Conference in London on 10 July. The Prime Minister also discussed NATO membership with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, at the Poznan Summit in Poland on 5 July.

The Government will continue to support North Macedonia to implement its Strategic Defence Review in preparation for NATO membership, including through funding a UK defence adviser working in North Macedonia's Defence Ministry.