Kosovo: Arms Trade
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK arms exports to Kosovo on (a) Kosovan security and (b) growth of the UK defence economy.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The UK continues to monitor the security situation in Kosovo closely and UK forces are deployed in country supporting NATO’s KFOR mission to maintain a safe and secure environment. This is consistent with our ongoing commitment to support regional defence and security.
HMG are also currently exploring defence export opportunities to Kosovo. This has the potential to help support jobs throughout the United Kingdom and maintain our world-class defence-industrial base alongside bolstering Kosovo’s security and resilience.
UK export licences would only be granted in accordance with the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, which provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to consider the possible impact of providing equipment and capabilities. We do not issue licences where to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria including under Criterion 4 where we determine if there is a clear risk that the items would, undermine overall peace and security.
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