28 June 2004

NATO Partnership for Peace Strengthens Democracy, Stability

White House fact sheet issued at NATO Summit in Istanbul, Turkey

North Atlantic Alliance leaders meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, have marked the 10th anniversary of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which has contributed to stronger democracies in Europe, peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area, and closer integration and cooperation across Europe and Eurasia.

Following is a White House fact sheet on the Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council issued June 28 in conjunction with the NATO Summit in Istanbul:

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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary (Istanbul, Turkey)
June 28, 2004

FACT SHEET

PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE AND THE EURO-ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL

Partnership for Peace. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program is one of NATO's most successful initiatives and has become a key component of NATO's response to the challenges of the 21st Century. PfP has strengthened new democracies in Europe, strengthened peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area, and contributed to closer integration and cooperation across Europe and Eurasia.

In the ten years since PfP's inception:

-- Ten Central and Eastern European countries have become NATO members;

-- NATO Members and Partners have conducted hundreds of exercises, involving tens of thousands of forces, to improve their ability to conduct peacekeeping, search and rescue, and other operations together, and to respond to disasters and other civil emergencies;

-- Several of NATO's PfP Partners are contributing, or have made past contributions, to the NATO-led operations in the Balkans (SFOR and KFOR) and Afghanistan (ISAF). Many are also participating in Operation Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan, and the Multinational Force in Iraq.

Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). The EAPC was created in 1997 as a political forum involving NATO and its Partners to complement the Partnership for Peace. It replaced the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, created in 1991. The EAPC today includes the 26 NATO Allies and 20 Partnership from Europe and Eurasia.

Focus on Central Asia. At today's NATO Summit meeting, Allied leaders agreed to strengthen the focus within the Partnership for Peace on relationships with the states of the Caucasus and Central Asia, including by assigning liaison officers in each region to foster closer cooperation between those countries and NATO. NATO will also renew its focus on PfP's original goals of encouraging democratic control of military forces, transparency in defense planning and budgeting, and building capabilities and readiness to contribute to NATO operations.

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