---

Kosovo

Answer

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) budget for expenditure is £1.1 million on embassy staff and other operational costs and around £200,000 on support for the British Council in the 2008-09 financial year. Technical assistance to the Kosovo government is provided through a combination of FCO bilateral funding, project activities under the joint FCO/Department for International Development/Ministry of Defence Conflict Prevention Pool and the FCO's Strategic Programme Fund. The total budgets for expenditure for these three funds in the 2008-09 financial year are: £76,000; up to £3.8 million; and £110,000 respectively. Our work with non-governmental organisations in Kosovo is also funded from the Conflict Prevention Pool and the Strategic Programme Fund. The FCO does not provide budgetary support for the government of Kosovo and non-governmental bodies working in Kosovo.The UN Mission in Kosovo's approved budget for the 2008-09 financial year is US$198 million, of which the UK's contribution is 7.9 per cent. or US$14.8 million (around £7.4 million). The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo's (EULEX) approved commitment appropriation for calendar year 2008 is €140 million, of which the UK's contribution is 17 per cent. or €23.8 million (around £18.9 million). The actual amount spent on EULEX in 2008-09 will not be known until the end of the financial year. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission in Kosovo's (OMIK) approved budget for calendar year 2008 is just over €30 million, of which the UK's contribution is 11.09 per cent. or €3.3 million (around £2.6 million). The budget for calendar year 2009 is yet to be approved but in UK financial year 2007-08, the UK contribution to OMIK was €3.7 million. We would not expect this level to be exceeded in 2008-09.We have provisionally budgeted for a total of 76 UK secondees to EULEX in 2008-09 at an estimated cost of £5.3 million and for a total of five UK secondees to the International Civilian Organisation at an estimated cost of £377,000. We have one UK secondee to OMIK at a cost of around £70,000 per annum.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

479 c2189-90W; 219648

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Foreign and Commonwealth Office Kosovo

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk