Foreign Ministers meetings

GENERAL

1. The North Atlantic Council (NAC) will hold meetings at the level of Foreign Ministers on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday7 December 2016. All information regarding these meetings will be made available on the NATO website.
2. The meetings will be chaired by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.
3. This media advisory marks the opening of the online accreditation website (see below).

ACCREDITATION AND SECURITY CHECKS

4. Journalists in possession of a valid 2016 NATO permanent media pass do not need to request accreditation.
5. Media representatives that do not have a valid 2016 NATO permanent media pass must apply for accreditation. Applications for accreditation can only be made via our online platform. This can be found by clicking on the following link: https://my.hq.nato.int/.
6. Applications for accreditation must be submitted online no later than 12:00 noon (Brussels time) on Friday 2 December. Any requests received after this date are likely to be delayed or refused. Media representatives who have submitted the request for accreditation via the internet are encouraged to bring a print-out of the request confirmation. Late applications will not be taken into consideration for pool access.
7. The usual NATO accreditation procedures are applicable to this meeting. Media representatives using the system for the first time will need to create a username and password and fill in personal details to establish a media profile. To complete this process a digital picture (3.5 x 4.5 cm passport-type photograph in JPEG format) and press card will also be required. The press card must be issued by a recognised national professional body of a NATO country (i.e. government, professional association or union). Media representatives that reside in Belgium should enter their Belgian press card number and issuing authority (Belgian Interior Ministry or Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
8. Media representative that are not in possession of a valid press card will be invited to provide an official letter from their editor confirming their status as a journalist and that they will be covering the Foreign Ministers meetings.
9. Media passes must be collected in person from the Media Accreditation Office (see opening hours) which is located at the main entrance of NATO Headquarters. Passes will not be sent by mail. To collect their pass, media representatives will be asked to present an ID card or passport and a valid national press card (or accreditation letter from a recognized media organization). Passes must be worn and visible at all times, and security personnel reserve the right to request another form of identification at any time.
10. Media representatives are informed that security personnel will examine and may test equipment and personal effects carried onto the site. It is therefore strongly advised to arrive with sufficient lead time to clear security checks.

PROGRAMME AND POOLS

11. The definitive program will be handed to media representatives upon accreditation. The program will provide additional information on restricted access to the opening of Council meetings and the official portrait, as well as information regarding access to press conferences and the retransmission of media events to the press working area and TV/Radio booths. Details of individual minister's media programmes should be sought directly from the national delegation(s) concerned. A list of NATO Delegation Press Officers will be available from the Press & Media Section.
12. Press conferences will be open to all accredited media. The opening remarks of the various NATO meetings, as well as the Secretary General's press conference(s) will be broadcast live on the internal closed-circuit television system and can be viewed in the press working area.
13. Access to the Council meeting room will be restricted. Only videographers and photographers in possession of a pool card will be able to cover the initial remarks from inside the Council room. To apply for a pool card please send an email to Mr Thomas Bellanger (see contacts). Please note that no confirmation will be sent. Pool cards for restricted-access events will only be given to a small number of videographers and photographers. These will be drawn from media representatives that were able to submit an accreditation request on time and can be collected from the Press Office from 10:00 hours on 6 December and from 08:00 hours on 7 December.
14. The NATO photographers and videographers will provide video clips and photos of all the media events on the NATO website. Photos can be downloaded from www.nato.int and the B-roll and press conference videos can be downloaded live from the NATO TV & Radio Unit (see the contact details below). After each event, videos will be made available for free download from the NATOChannel.
15. Media representative that choose to accept a NATO pool position must be aware that, in line with international practice, the act of accepting the pool accreditation implies explicit and unconditional agreement by that media representative that he/she will share immediately and upon request all information collected, and/or all material produced, while in that pool with other NATO accredited media. It further implies explicit agreement that the media representative will share the material free of charge, with no impediment from their own news organization to other journalists and with no restriction on the use of the material for legitimate news purposes.
16. Media representatives may only accept the pool accreditation if they have the explicit backing of their employer to all of the conditions on providing pool material as outlines above.
17. Media organisations seeking pool photo materials should first contact the Wire service photo agency of which they are a member or client. Media representatives and the news organizations that employ them who accept any material from a pool do so with the explicit and strict understanding that it must be identified as pool material any time it is used, that it can be used only for legitimate news purposes, and that the receiving party has no right to sell pool material or otherwise profit from it.

MEDIA FACILITIES

18. Twelve TV booths and eight radio booths (each with an ISDN line, Internet access and a telephone) will be made available. They will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, upon request by email to the NATO TV & Radio Unit (see contact details below).
19. Journalists, wire services and photo agencies using bulky equipment are urged to bring it to the Media Centre as of Monday 5 December.
20. NATO also has one TV and one radio studio, which are available when not in use by senior NATO officials. These facilities are usually booked via delegations press officers wishing to accept interview requests from media organisations.
21. A temporary press area with 170 working spaces will be set up in front of the Luns Conference Room. Electricity plugs, Wi-Fi internet, 74 LAN internet access and 54 telephones will be available. In addition, a separate space with 15 working spaces dedicated to radio (15 ISDN Lines) will be made available.
22. The permanent "Carrington" press area will also be available (50 working spaces with electricity plugs, Wi-Fi internet, 25 LAN internet access and 42 telephones).
23. Please note that working spaces mentioned in paragraph 21 and 22 cannot be booked in advance but media can use it on a first-come, first-served basis.

OPENING HOURS

PARKING

24. Media representatives are informed that they will not be allowed to park their vehicles inside the NATO compound. They may, however, park in the west car park outside the main entrance. Uplink vans may park in a special section of the east car park, or on car park H, upon request to the NATO TV & Radio Unit.

CONTACT POINTS