Written question asked by Eric Martlew (Labour) on Wednesday, 14 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 20 October 2009. It was answered by Chris Bryant (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 October 2009 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Macedonia

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government are providing support to the Government of Macedonia in their application for membership of the European Union.

Answer: The UK strongly supports Macedonia's EU membership aspirations and welcomes the Commission's recent recommendation to open accession negotiations.The Government co-operate with EU partners to encourage the required reforms in Macedonia. Alongside its contribution to financing programmes under the EU's Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), the Government are providing bilateral support in 2009-10 of around £890,000.UK projects include work designed to improve Macedonia's public administrative capacity, strengthen its Parliament, and help fight corruption.

Secondary information