20 Jan. 2005

2005 PfP Symposium outlines way ahead for Partnership Opinions 20/01/2005 - NATO Introductory remarks by the Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, Günther Altemburg Multimedia Exerpt from the Keynote address by Ms. Salome Zourabishvili, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (.MP3/5533kb) Background Partnership for Peace The Euro-Atlantic Partnership “Implementing the Istanbul Summit Decisions on the Euro-Atlantic Partnership: Challenges and Opportunities” was the theme of this year’s edition of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Planning Symposium, held on 20 and 21 January at the NATO School Oberammergau, Germany. The Symposium provided a unique opportunity for an informal dialogue on making better use of the existing partnership resources and tools, in particular training and education programmes aimed at supporting defence reform and enhancing the contribution of partner countries to NATO-led operations. “We need to focus our work on the three priorities identified at Istanbul: defence reform, operational capabilities, and counter-terrorism. And these three priorities should be served by a renewed effort in education and training,” said Ambassador Gunther Altenburg, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy in his opening remarks as Chairman. In her keynote address on “Managing Change and Expectations in the Euro-Atlantic area”, Ms. Salome Zourabishvili, the Foreign Minister of Georgia, told the audience that “the Black Sea offers a promising new Partnership with NATO and a testing ground for cooperative approaches”. In conjunction with the event, the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Institutions organised a “marketplace” to showcase the resources and opportunities available through the PfP Consortium, NATO education institutions and PfP Training Centres. About 240 participants representing more than fifty nations attended this edition of the annual flagship partnership event. Participants included representatives of the EU and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue countries.