Information correct as of 12 June 2001

Chapter 3: The Opening Up of the Alliance NATO's South East Europe Initiative NATO’s South East Europe Initiative (SEEI) was launched at the 1999 Washington Summit in order to promote regional cooperation and long term security and stability in the region. The initiative was designed to build on NATO's already extensive contribution to security and stability in the region and take it to a new level, with a particular regional focus involving Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia and including, when circumstances would permit, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the Summit, an open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group (AHWG) on Regional Cooperation in Southeast Europe was convened under the auspices of the EAPC in Political Committee Session. Its recommendations were taken into consideration by the Political-Military Steering Committee for Partnership for Peace (PMSC), which developed possible regional initiatives as part of a broad package of activities in support of the SEEI. . This consisted of practical cooperative activities, including seminars on key issues facing the region, the establishment of a Southeast Europe Security Cooperation Steering Group (SEEGROUP), and negotiation of a Common Assessment Paper on Regional Security Challenges and Opportunities (SEECAP), with the aim of encouraging regional leadership and ownership of all these activities, with NATO's support. In this context, the SEECAP was agreed by Foreign Ministers of the participating countries on the margins of the Budapest EAPC Foreign ministers meeting in May 2001. Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia participated in the project alongside all PfP/EAPC Partners from the region as well as several NATO member countries. The agreement paves the way for further broad cooperation in the field of security sector reform. Also, in the context of SEEI, the SEEGROUP was established, with rotating chairmanship among countries of the region, in order to coordinate regional projects. The Group will also play an important role in cooperative approaches to implement the SEECAP and promote reform.. An example of achievements in SEEGROUP has been the negotiation of the SEESTAFF document, which opens the way for exchanges of liaison personnel among neighbouring border authorities. SEEGROUP has been expanded to include Moldova, in addition to all countries in Southeast Europe as well as Austria and Switzerland. The PfP Trust Fund mechanism has been used to support several projects in the region. The EAPC-AHWG has focused on ways in which the EAPC can support and encourage regional cooperation, as a means of fostering the full integration of all the countries of the region into the Euro-Atlantic community. A complementary programme of security cooperation specifically designed to respond to the needs of Croatia, building on PfP mechanisms paved the way for Croatian participation in PfP. NATO also has a special security cooperation programme with Bosnia and Herzegovina outside PfP, which likewise complements other activities in the context of South East Europe Initiative. In a further area of cooperation, NATO is providing advice and expertise on the retraining of military officers made redundant by force structure reforms in Bulgaria and Romania. This is a NATO project being carried out in the framework of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe in cooperation with the World Bank and other donors and the countries involved. By mid 2002, over 5000 military officers in Bulgaria and Romania had taken advantage of the retraining programmes. Croatia has recently started the process and Albania has presented a proposal and request for NATO support. NATO has also initiated work on the closing of military sites and their conversion to civilian use.. This process is well underway, with the selection of pilot projects in Romania and Bulgaria. Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have announced their intention to participate. NATO's involvement and rôle in providing advice and expertise have helped to strengthen the credibility of national proposals for cooperation and to elicit interest from financial institutions and others in providing support. The articulation between the expertise of NATO, the intermediary role of the Stability Pact and donor funding offers a pragmatic model, resulting in concrete cooperation programmes. Several other SEEI projects have also contributed to the activities and objectives of the Stability Pact Working Table on Security Issues. NATO's involvement and role in providing advice and expertise have helped to strengthen the credibility of national proposals for cooperation and to elicit interest from financial institutions and others in providing support. The Stability Pact was initiated by the European Union in May 1999. It was subsequently adopted at an international conference held in Cologne on 10 June 1999 and placed under the auspices of the OSCE. It is designed to contribute to lasting peace, prosperity and stability in South Eastern Europe through coherent and coordinated action, by bringing together the countries of the region, other interested countries and organisations with capabilities to contribute. It establishes specific mechanisms to coordinate their joint efforts.