NATO Russia Council agrees on plan to fight terrorism

Meeting in Brussels on Foreign Minister level on 9 December, the NATO Russia Council agreed on an action plan against terrorism that will guide future efforts in all aspects of this common struggle.

Following just a few months after the terrorist attack on the school in the Russian city of Beslan, the fight against terrorism was one of the top items on the agenda of the meeting.

The adopted plan is a qualitatively new departure in NATO-Russia efforts to combat terrorism. It outlines measures to enhance the capabilities of Russia and NATO to act, individually and jointly, in three critical areas: preventing terrorism; combating terrorist activities; and managing the consequences of terrorist acts.

The meeting also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Russian participation in NATO’s anti-terrorist naval operations in the Mediterranean.

Ministers also approved the Council’s programme of work for 2005. It will take forward NATO-Russia cooperation in a number of areas including, civil emergency planning, defence reform and cooperation in the field of peacekeeping and crisis management.

“We have made important progress in deepening our co-operation in areas as diverse as civil emergency planning and response, theatre missile defence and airspace management,” said the NATO Secretary General in his opening statement, “We have continued to intensify co-operation among our military forces, and tested our ability to work together in crisis management through an ambitious NATO-Russia procedural exercise.”

Council statement addresses Ukraine

Against the backdrop of dramatic events in Ukraine, the Council discussed the situation, and in a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting “appealed to all parties to continue to avoid the use or instigation of violence, to refrain from intimidation of voters, and to work to ensure a free, fair electoral process that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people.”

“We reiterated our support for the independence, the sovereignty, the territorial integrity of and democracy in Ukraine,” the statement said.