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Armed Forces: Embassies

Volume 460: debated on Friday 18 May 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British embassies and high commissions have (a) a defence attaché, (b) a military attaché, (c) a Royal Naval attaché and (d) an air attaché; and if he will make a statement on the future funding of these posts. (136606)

In each of the 79 countries listed the UK currently has a resident accredited Defence Attaché/Adviser (DA). In smaller posts, a singleton DA will also act as the de facto Military Attaché/Adviser (MA), Naval Attaché/Adviser (NA) and Air Attaché/Adviser (AA) to look after single service issues in addition to wider defence matters. To spread the work load, busier posts may have one or more additional accredited attaches/advisers who are subordinate to the DA. To align with the focus of the specific defence relationship with the host country, these individuals are often styled in more than one way: either as single service attachés/advisers in their own right, or in a combined roles (such as NA/AA or MA/NA); or simply as the Deputy or Assistant Defence Attachés/Advisers (covering issues across all three services). Where single service attachés are not specified the DA performs these roles where required. A number of other countries and overseas territories are covered on a non-resident basis. The current disposition of attachés/advisers is described in the following table.

Country in which Attachés are resident

Countries and Overseas Territories covered on a non—resident basis

Defence Attaché (DA) (a)

Military Attaché (MA) (b)

Naval Attaché (NA) (c)

Air Attaché (AA) (d)

1

Albania

P

2

Algeria

Tunisia

3

Argentina

Uruguay, Paraguay

P

P

4

Australia

Papua New Guinea

P

MA/AA

5

Austria

Switzerland

P

6

Bahrain

P

7

Bangladesh

P

8

Barbados

Grenada, St Vincent and Grenadines, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Puerto Rico

P

9

Bosnia and Herzegovina

P

10

Brazil

Venezuela

P

11

Brunei

P

12

Bulgaria

P

Deputy DA

13

Canada

P

NA/AA

14

Chile

Ecuador, Bolivia

P

15

China1

Mongolia

P

P

NA/AA

16

Colombia

Peru, Panama

P

17

Congo (DRC)

Angola, Congo, Gabon

P

18

Croatia

P

19

Cyprus

P

20

Czech Republic

P

21

Denmark

P

22

Egypt

P

NA/AA

23

Ethiopia

Djibouti

P

24

Finland

Estonia

P

25

France

P

P

P

26

Georgia

Armenia, Azerbaijan

P

27

Germany

P

P

NA/AA

28

Ghana

Ivory Coast, Togo

P

29

Greece

P

NA/AA

30

Guatemala

El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba

P

31

India2

P

NA/AA

32

Indonesia

Democratic Republic of Timor Leste

P

33

Iraq

P

34

Ireland

P

35

Israel

P

NA/AA

36

Italy

Malta

P

NA/AA

37

Jamaica

Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos

P

38

Japan

P

39

Jordan

P

40

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

P

41

Kenya

Eritrea, Tanzania, Seychelles

P

42

Korea

P

NA/AA

43

Kuwait

P

44

Lebanon

P

45

Lithuania

Latvia

P

46

Macedonia

P

47

Malaysia

Vietnam

P

Assistant DA

48

Morocco

Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia

P

49

Nepal

P

Assistant MA

50

New Zealand

Fiji, Tonga

P

51

Netherlands

Brussels, Luxembourg

P

52

Nigeria

P

53

Norway

P

54

Oman

P

NA/AA

55

Pakistan

P

NA/AA

56

Poland

P

NA/MA

57

Portugal

Cape Verde

P

58

Qatar

P

59

Romania

Moldova

P

Assistant DA

60

Russia3

Belarus, Turkmenistan

P

P

P

P

61

Saudi Arabia

P

NA/AA

62

Serbia

Montenegro

P

63

Sierra Leone

Guinea, Liberia

P

64

Singapore

P

65

Slovakia

Hungary

P

66

South Africa

Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana Mauritius

P

NA/AA

67

Spain

P

Deputy DA

68

Sri Lanka

Maldives

P

69

Sudan

P

70

Sweden

P

71

Syria

P

72

Thailand

P

73

Turkey

P

NA/AA

74

Uganda

Burundi, Rwanda

P

75

Ukraine

P

Deputy DA

76

United Arab Emirates

P

77

United States of America4

Bermuda

P

78

Yemen

P

P

P

P

79

Zimbabwe

Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia

P

1 Also supported by an Assistant MA. 2 Also supported by an Assistant DA. 3 Also supported by Assistant MA, Assistant MA and Assistant AA. 4 Also supported by a Deputy DA, Assistant NA, Assistant MA and Assistant AA.

The defence diplomacy network is regularly reviewed as part of the normal planning process and to meet changing foreign and defence policy priorities. The FCO decided last year to withdraw its contribution to the cost of maintaining the Attaché/Adviser network and this has necessitated such a review, which is still in progress. Decisions on any changes to the network will not be made until the summer.