Foreign Ministerial Meetings
Brussels, 3–4 December 2009
CHANGES TO ANNOUNCED TIMING
General
- A meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the level of Foreign Ministers will be held at NATO Headquarters on Thursday, 3 December and Friday, 4 December 2009. Other meetings with Ministers of Foreign Affairs will include the NATO-Ukraine Commission, the NATO-Georgia Commission, the NATO-Russia Council, and a meeting of the North Atlantic Council with troop contributors in ISAF.
Programme and pools
- The detailed programme will be given to media representatives when they collect their accreditation. It will entail restricted access by selected visual media to the opening of Council meetings and the official portrait, the unrestricted access to press conferences and the retransmission of media events to the press working area and TV/Radio editing booths. Information about individual ministerial media programmes should be sought directly from the national Delegation(s) concerned. A list of NATO Delegation press officers is available from the information desk and upon accreditation.
- Press conferences are in principle media events open to all accredited media. The initial remarks of the various NATO meetings will be broadcast live on the internal closed-circuit television system and can be viewed in the press working area. Audiovisual media representatives who wish to cover the initial remarks from inside the Council room may make a written request for a pool card to the e-mail address given at the end of this advisory. No confirmation will be sent. Pool cards for restricted-access events will be given to a small number of cameramen and photographers drawn from among those who submit an accreditation request on time; these will be distributed at the Media Centre information counter starting at 10 a.m. on 3 December.
- When a media representative accepts a NATO pool position it is with the strict understanding, in accordance with international practice, that the act of accepting the accreditation to be in a NATO pool implies explicit and unconditional agreement by that media representative that he/she will share immediately and upon request with other media accredited to the NATO event all information collected, and/or all material produced, while in that pool. It also implies explicit agreement that the media representative will share the material with no impediment from their own news organization, at no charge to other journalists and with no restriction on the use of the material for legitimate news purposes.
- Media representatives can only accept the pool accreditation if they have the explicit backing of their employer to all of the conditions on providing pool material as the basis of accepting the pool position.
- Photographers 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 accept it 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.
- The NATO photographers and cameramen will post the audiovisual sequences of all the media events on the NATO website; the sequences can also be obtained from the TV & Radio Unit (see the contact details below) and/or the NATO Internet Television Channel.
Accreditation and security checks
- Journalists in possession of a valid NATO permanent media pass do not need to request accreditation.
- Media representatives not in possession of a valid NATO permanent media pass who wish to cover the meeting must apply for accreditation. Applications for accreditation can only be made on-line via internet, by clicking on the following link: https://my.hq.nato.int/.
- Applications for accreditation must be sent in no later than 12 noon on Tuesday, 1st December 2009. Requests received after that date are likely to be delayed and 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 the pools.
- The usual NATO accreditation procedures shall be applicable to this meeting. The accreditation process requires media representatives using the system for the first time to create a user name and password and to provide a digital picture (3.5 x 4.5 cm passport-type photograph in JPEG format). Media representatives who reside in Belgium are also invited to enter their Belgian press pass number and issuing authority (Belgian Interior Ministry or Ministry of Foreign Affairs) into the online interface of the accreditation request.
- The accreditation platform is being modernized, so media representatives who already have an account in the old system but have not yet activated their account in the new system are asked to follow these steps. Click on the following link (https://my.hq.nato.int/). In the right-hand column of the Web page, click on “Forgot your password?” (1) and enter the e-mail address that was in your JAS accreditation profile (2) (an access code will be sent to that address). Next click on the “Forgot password” button (3) and check your e-mail. Then return to the home page (https://my.hq.nato.int/) and click on “Registered user”. You will be asked to enter your e-mail address and the access code that was sent to you. You can change this access code/password after logging in for the first time.
- Please contact us if you have connection problems or any other questions (mailto:december-2009-mfa@hq.nato.int).
- Media passes will not be mailed to applicants; they must be collected in person at the Media Accreditation Office upon presentation of an ID card or passport and a valid press pass (or accreditation letter from a recognized media organization). Media representatives will be given their accreditation at the main entrance of NATO Headquarters. Passes must be worn visibly at all times, and security personnel may ask to see another form of ID at any time. Media representatives are informed that security personnel will examine and may test equipment and personal effects carried onto the site and are advised to arrive with sufficient lead time to clear security checks.
- Access to the Media Centre will be through the Press entrance (NB) only.
Media facilities
- Eight TV editing booths and eight radio editing booths (each with an ISDN line, Internet access and a telephone) will be made available to representatives from those media. Contact the TV & Radio Unit (see contact details below) to reserve one of the booths, which will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Journalists, wire services and photo agencies using bulky equipment are urged to bring it to the Media Centre as of the Wednesday afternoon.
Opening hours
| Accreditation Office | Media Centre | |
| Wednesday, 2 Dec. 2009 | 13h30 – 18h30 | 13h30 – 20h00 |
| Thursday, 3 Dec. 2009 | 9h00 – 20h00 | 9h00 to close of business |
| Friday, 4 Dec. 2009 | 7h00 – 14h00 | 7h00 to close of business |
Parking
- Media representatives are informed that they will not be allowed to park their vehicles inside the NATO compound. They may, however, park in the east and west car parks outside the main entrance. Uplink vans may park in a special section of the east car park, or on car park H, upon request.
Contact points
| General matters | Mr Damien Arnaud Mrs Alina Coca |
Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 50 38 Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 14 65 |
| Accreditation | Mr Thomas Bellanger | Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 14 31 Fax: +32 (0)2 707 13 99 |
| Requests for pool cards | By e-mail only: december-2009-mfa@hq.nato.int | |
| TV and Radio | Mr Jean-Marc Lorgnier | Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 50 06 |
| Mrs Kathy Massey | Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 50 50 | |