Visit to NATO HQ of the NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC-13)
On 23 March 2015, the NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC) visited NATO Headquarters on a Field Study visit, organised by the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division (PASP).
The thirteenth NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC-13) was welcomed at NATO Headquarters by the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division and NATO’s International Military Staff for a one-day programme at NATO Headquarters that included meetings with NATO officials and representatives from Allied nations.
The NRCC-13 received briefings on NATO’s cooperation with the Mediterranean and the Middle East Region by Mr. Nicola de Santis, Head, Middle East and North Africa Section, Political Affairs and Security Policy Division, on NATO’s Military Cooperation in the framework of the Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative by Colonel Emanuele Biondini, Head, Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Section, Cooperation and Regional Security Division, International Military Staff, on NATO’s New Partnership Policy by Dr Rolf Schwarz, Political Officer, Political Affairs and Security Policy Division, on New Emerging Security Challenges by Dr Detlef Puhl, Senior Adviser, Emerging Security Challenges Division.
The visit also included a series of high-level meetings with the NATO Deputy Secretary General, H.E. Alexander Vershbow, and with Rear Admiral Emil Eftimov, Director, Cooperation and Regional Security Division, NATO International Military Staff who addressed the course on behalf of General Kund Bartels, Chairman of the North Atlantic Military Committee, as well as with Major General Franco Marsiglia, Military Counsellor, Italian Delegation to NATO.
The NRCC is a direct response to NATO's HOSG decision in Riga in 2006 to launch the NATO Training Cooperation Initiative with the countries from the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), and the success of the NRCC is demonstrated by the growing interest from regional states. The current NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC-13) has 36 participants, from Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.