Press Release (98)11 26 Jan. 1998

8Th VCC seminar with Cooperation Partners on implementation of conventional arms control agreements From 28th to 30th January, at NATO Headquarters, NATO's Verification Coordinating Committee (VCC) will host its 8th Seminar on cooperation in the verification and implementation of conventional arms control agreements, mainly focussing on the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) and the Vienna Document 94. In addition to the sixteen NATO members' nations and the three "invitees", namely the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia and Ukraine will participate. The Seminar will be opened by the Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Sergio Balanzino. The Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ambassador Klaus-Peter Klaiber, will provide the participants with a detailed overview on NATO's current agenda. Guest speakers include Ambassadors Vissing from Denmark and Tarasyuk from Ukraine. During the Seminar, workshops will review a variety of implementation-related-matters with a view to further improving the tools and procedures and to meet the new challenges and their future requirements. Plenary discussions will address individual aspects of the current programme of cooperation in conventional arms control implementation and verification and the way ahead The 8th Seminar with Partners is the latest in a series of joint seminars and workshops to assess the results of the Programme of Enhanced Cooperation initiated by NATO in January 1993, now continued under the auspices of the EAPC. This programme, designed to enhance cooperative approaches to implementing conventional arms control agreements, includes four areas of special relevance to the CFE Treaty: joint inspections of declared sites; joint inspections of reductions; joint training courses; and sharing of information stored in NATO's verification data base VERITY. This year's seminar is the second during the ongoing residual period of CFE Treaty implementation and will take place during the current negotiation process towards adaptation of the CFE Treaty and its Verification Regime to the changed security environment, providing the "verification community" with a timely opportunity to support the negotiators with their practical views on how to further improve the implementation process. It will also allow for a common analysis on how to meet the challenges of future implementation and verification tasks through agreed principles and an appropriate system of training and education. The Seminar will also take note of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and related questions. Journalists wishing further information on this Seminar may contact Mr. Necil NEDIMOGLU, tel.: 00-32-2-707.5806 or fax: 00-32-2-707.4140.