18-19 Jan. 2007
Taking forward the Riga Summit decisions on strengthening NATO's partnerships was the focus of a major event, the 2007 Partnership for Peace Planning Symposium, at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany, 18-19 January.
"To remain relevant - all NATO's partnerships need increased focus, increased flexibility, and increased effectiveness," said the Chairman of the Symposium, Ambassador Martin Erdmann, NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, in his opening address.
"We need 'partnerships that deliver' - that produce results, that support NATO's strategy, operations, and missions - and that contribute to interoperability, defence reforms, and to political consultations," he stressed.
The agenda for NATO's partnerships, set out by NATO's November 2006 Riga Summit, was addressed on the first day, with a discussion led by the German, Netherlands, and Romanian Ambassadors to NATO.
Parallel working groups then explored this topic from three different angles: enhanced political consultations, more effective defence reforms, further developing interoperability and the capabilities needed to enhance Partners’ contributions to NATO-led operations.
The second day of the Symposium was devoted to Afghanistan, with special focus on the implementation of the NATO-Afghanistan Declaration, which has created the “Framework for Enduring Co-operation in Partnership”.
Ms Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia, Lieutenant General Sher Mohammed Karimi, Head of Operations of Afghan Army, and Major General (Ret) Roger Lane, former deputy commander of NATO HQ/ISAF were the keynote speakers of the day. The Secretary General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, addressed the conference via a tele-link.
Recognising partners’ contributions to promoting peace, stability and reconstruction in Afghanistan, the participants discussed how NATO’s partnerships, as well as individual partners, could best contribute to accomplishing the objectives of the Declaration, in particular in the area of defence and security sector reform.
Building on the success of last year, the NATO School organised a 'market place' of NATO and Partnership for Peace education and training institutions supporting implementation of partnership objectives.
This annual flagship event was attended by more than 250 participants representing over fifty NATO, Euro-Atlantic, Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative countries, as well as interested 'contact countries' and other international organizations (including the EU, UN, and International Committee of the Red Cross).
