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Q: Rolf, you're the outgoing director of the NATO Information Office in Moscow and have been in the position for three years. During that time could you tell us what was the most challenging moment for you?
ROLF WELBERTS (Outgoing Director, NATO Information Office, Moscow): I think every thing you face an audience which is sceptical, or even hostile, towards NATO you have a challenge. And every time you need to turn it around. And most of the time you succeed. Sometimes audiences are more difficult than others.
A difficult moment was during the Iraq crisis when NATO was held responsible by the Russian public for military action in Iraq undertaken by some of the allies. That needed to be explained, but sometimes people didn't want to listen. So that was, I think, the most difficult moment.
Q: Over two years ago the NATO-Russia Council was launched. Did this have an impact on Putin and his government's attitude towards NATO, and more concretely, on your office's relations with the general public in Moscow and the rest of Russia?
WELBERTS: I think it's the other way around. The establishment of the NATO-Russia Council reflected a changed attitude with the Russian leadership, with Putin, and it ended... it was... it ended the freezing of the relationship between Russia and NATO that followed the Kosovo conflict.
Since then the Russians have been working very continuously and very patiently in the NATO-Russia Council. I think it's a body that's developed good initiatives, a very good routine, and has helped the atmosphere to improve. It has developed trust between NATO allies and Russia.
Q: And during the time you were in Moscow, has NATO's image in Russia evolved, and if so, how?
WELBERTS: There've been changes. I mean, we... NATO had been and still is often seen as an aggressive military bloc. That's how Russians often put it. "Агрeссивный Вoeнный блok". It's something I heard everyday. That's one thing. Others questioned the relevance of NATO. They questioned why... they asked why would Russia cooperate with NATO in the war against terrorism. Does NATO have the capabilities to deliver, which of course, with transformation, it increasingly has.
The other question is less often asked in Russia. Does Russia have the capabilities to cooperate with NATO in the fight against terrorism.
I think both questions are relevant.
So these two questions are on the table. Now, I think the threat perception has decreased, although polls indicate that more Russians, about 70 percent of them, see NATO as a military threat than perhaps a year and a half ago. We are now back to the numbers we had three years ago.
On the other hand, when you ask further, for example, not explicitly about a NATO threat, but about what should President Putin discuss with say President Bush in the next meeting? Then 70 percent of Russians will say terrorism. A very high number, second place, will say the economy, trade and so on. You get the economic questions or social questions. And only three percent will then say NATO, or NATO enlargement. That shows that Russians are not really afraid of NATO. I think below the surface the image has improved tremendously.
Q: And when you first arrived in your post you no doubt had expectations and specific objectives in mind. Could you tell us what they were, and if and how they evolved with the course of events?
WELBERTS: My aim was to find partners for events, conferences, seminars, who would help me to spread the message that NATO's not a threat, but NATO's a partner. We had partners already in Moscow, in Petersburg, in some other places, like Volgograd, the aim was to establish a network of partners throughout Russia. And I think in that we have succeeded. We now have partners in the form of NGOs, universities, institute from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, and from Murmansk to the Caucasus.
Q: And is there an anecdote you'd like to share with us from your experience as director of the NATO Information Office?
WELBERTS: The attack of the killer tomatoes in Novosibirsk? I told you that a very difficult moment for me... for us, my deputy Michael Hewett(?) and myself, was the Iraq crisis. In... I was going to Novosibirsk, I was doing a tour to Siberia and to the Russian Far East in order to win partners and this was a first visit. It hasn't happened before.
I arrived there the day after military action was taken in Iraq. I entered a huge auditorium, faced a very tense crowd, brandishing slogans and you know, being very silent towards me. Then I started talking about NATO and about, you know, the topic and all of a sudden tomatoes were flying. It was a right wing radical group. Nothing very significant, but it's the only thing of that kind that ever happened while I was in Russia. Which shows that it's not really bad, if you know, flying tomatoes is something that can happen in any of our universities as well. So if that was the most difficult moment then I think it shows that I had a pretty good time. I did. I was a very, very interesting, good time.
Q: And just one last question: If you had one piece of advice to give to your successor what would it be?
WELBERTS: Patience, patience, patience.
Q: Okay, thank you very much indeed.