Tenth Winter Academy takes place in Berlin

Thirty students from Russia and eleven from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Georgia, Serbia and Ukraine participated in the event, which was aimed at improving understanding of NATO and the importance of NATO-Russia relations.

A number of briefings and workshops focused on topics related to NATO's ongoing transformation, such as the evolution in NATO's membership and partnerships, whether the Alliance needs a new Strategic Concept, the challenge of integrating Western Balkan countries into the Alliance, NATO's relations with the southern Caucasus and Central Asia, and the impact of enlargement on NATO-Russia relations.

Animated discussion also took place on the current situation in the Balkans and Kosovo's independence (and Russian perspectives on these), NATO's operation in Afghanistan, Ukraine's aspirations to NATO membership, and perspectives for NATO-Russia cooperation.

The Winter Academy was organized by Moscow-based Centre for European Security together with the NATO Information Office in Russia. Other sponsors included the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the Deutsch-Russisches Forum, which are both based in Berlin, and the Danish Ministry of Defence.