NRCC 3 Inauguration Ceremony

The Inauguration Ceremony for the NATO Regional Cooperation Course took place today at the NATO Defense College in Rome in the presence of the Ambassador of Egypt, Mahmoud KAREM (ret.).

The Ambassador and the other distinguished guests were welcomed by the Commandant of the NATO Defense College, Lieutenant General Wolf-Dieter LOESER.

During his opening remarks the Commandant underlined the very first aim of the course: not to put forward national positions, but to understand each nation’s point of view and to build bridges among countries. Lt General LOESER highlighted the fact that the broader Middle East and NATO countries share issues of mutual interest. As TV news broadcasts show every day, what happens in Northern Africa, in the Middle East and in the Gulf Region matters to the Euro-Atlantic area, and vice versa. The key to success for the Alliance and to a safer global environment lies in the common effort to understand one other better.

The NATO Regional Cooperation Course offers Course Members the possibility to study and analyse at a strategic political-military level the security issues concerning the broader Middle East and its relationship with NATO.

The topics examined during the course take into consideration the perspectives of the Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, and Gulf States.

NRCC-3 consists of 25 Course Members. The most represented nations are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Romania, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

The NRCC, held twice a year, was developed in response to the decision by the Alliance Heads of State and Government at the Riga Summit in November 2006 to foster a deeper dialogue and cooperation in education among MD and ICI countries and NATO.

The first course was held in 2009 and the new program generated lively interest. Since then, the Middle East and Gulf States have been called on to develop a better knowledge of NATO, while the Alliance, on its part, has committed itself to studying and gaining a greater understanding of the issues and the intricacies of this complex region.

NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Roberta Lusardi, ITA C)