NRC WORKING GROUP ON PEACEKEEPING - NRC (PK)

The activities of this working group date back to October 1997. The work of the group is rooted in the prominent role peacekeeping cooperation played in the NATO-Russia relationship. In fact, NATO and Russian forces were deployed together in the Balkans under UN-mandated IFOR, SFOR and KFOR between 1996-2003.

This working group was also the first expert forum established under the Founding Act to support Council work.

The main task of NRC(PK) is to assure continued consultations among NRC member states with a view to assisting the NRC in developing cooperation in peacekeeping operations, as appropriate and on a case-by-case basis.

The Working Group addresses operational, military and political-military aspects of peacekeeping. It conducts exchanges of assessments of national and NATO-led peacekeeping experiences. It is the primary forum for supporting the NATO-Russia Council in promoting strengthened cooperation in peacekeeping.

Cooperation in planning and crisis management has advanced through this group as illustrated by the Procedural Exercise, conducted in 2003-2004. The 27 members of the NRC participated in this exercise, which was designed to help validate and further develop the political aspects of the generic concept for the planning and conduct of joint NATO-Russia peacekeeping operations. The scenario for this exercise was hypothetical and focused on a response to a fictional international crisis situation generating a shared concern among the members of the NRC. While no actual troops were involved in the exercise, two rounds of consultations were conducted at the level of NRC Ambassadors in September 2004. This event further demonstrated the growing determination of NATO member states and the Russian Federation to work together in addressing jointly the current security challenges.

The practical cooperation in the field of peacekeeping is reflected by direct exchange of experience, both through meetings in Brussels and by experts visiting training centres in NRC member nations and sharing best practices. In this context, for example, in October 2005, the Working Group went to Russia, where it visited the 2nd Motorised Riffle Division in Alabino and the “Vystrel” Combined Arms Academy in Solnechnogorsk, which has taught courses on peacekeeping operations since 1974 and opened its doors to foreign officers in 1995. Other similar events were hosted by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy since 2004.