Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

1. What recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help strengthen NATO unity.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

5. What recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help strengthen NATO unity.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (James Cleverly)]

I regularly engage with our NATO allies. I did so most recently at the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting from 31 May to 1 June in Oslo, where the UK demonstrated our continued solidarity with Ukraine and we discussed preparations for the upcoming Vilnius summit for NATO leaders. We continue to hold NATO as the foundation stone of the Euro-Atlantic defence structure.

[James Cleverly]

The UK has been a strong supporter of both Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO. I was very pleased that Finland joined us at the most recent Foreign Ministers meeting. The UK will continue to push for both Hungary and Türkiye to ratify the accession of Sweden to NATO.

[Andrew Jones]

I was very pleased to hear the Prime Minister confirm that Ukraine’s rightful place is within NATO. Will my right hon. Friend outline what steps he has taken to build the path towards its membership?

[James Cleverly]

The commitment that was made at Bucharest many years ago still stands. In the intervening years, Ukraine has demonstrated through its experience on the battlefield an increased acceptance of NATO’s standards and doctrine, which has been driven by the training that the UK and other NATO allies have provided. Inevitably, that will have shortened the time between now and the point it becomes a full member of NATO. Of course, it is impossible for us to speculate when that will be, but I hope that it will be soon.