Third NATO-Russia conference on terrorism

Experts and top officials from NATO countries and the Russian Federation discussed ways of enhancing military cooperation in the fight against terrorism at a conference in Norfolk, US, on 5 April.

This was the third NATO-Russia conference on the role of the military in combating terrorism. The previous conferences were held in 2002 in Rome and Moscow.

This conference focused specifically on improving the capability of NATO and Russian armed forces to cooperate in key areas such as combating terrorism, rapid responses to terrorist incidents and monitoring terrorist activities across borders.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov delivered the keynote addresses.

“Because this new breed of terrorism sets itself no limitations, our response to it must be equally determined and comprehensive -- or we are sure to fail,” said Mr. de Hoop Scheffer, “Fighting this menace effectively requires the fullest possible international cooperation, especially in sharing intelligence, law enforcement, border security and the tracking of terrorist finances.”

The fight against terrorism is one of the priority areas for cooperation in the NATO-Russia Council, which brings together the now 26 NATO member countries and Russia as equal partners.