NATO-Armenia Cooperation: New Goals and Perspectives
On 9 November 2015 in Yerevan, Armenia the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in South Caucasus, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Armenia, the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and the Yerevan-based Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) organized a conference titled NATO-Armenia Cooperation: New Goals and Perspectives. The welcoming remarks were made by Koryun Nahapetyan – Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs, Head of the Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Matthias Kiesler – Ambassador, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Armenia and Peter-Andreas Bochmann – Resident Representative for South Caucasus, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.
The First Panel was dedicated to NATO Partnership in a tense regional context - a Platform for Dialogue and NATO’s upcoming Warsaw Summit. Panel speakers were Gagik Hovhannisyan, PhD – Head of NATO Division, Department of Arms Control and International Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ara Mesrobyan - 2nd State Councillor, Deputy Head of Defence Policy Department, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, Guido Hildner - Head of Political Affairs Branch, German Delegation to NATO and Steffen Elgersma - Political Affairs and Security Policy Division, NATO International Staff.
The Second Panel was dedicated to Parliamentary and Human Dimension in NATO-Armenia Cooperation: transparency, peace keeping missions and best practice in the defence sector. The speakers were Elinar Vardanyan - Chairwoman of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, former Member of the Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Khachatur Kokobelyan – Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Chairman of the Free Democrats Party and Tevan Poghosyan – Member of the Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
The Final Discussion was moderated by Vladimir Karapetyan - Head of the Committee on International Relations, Armenian National Congress Party.
The conference brought together more than 110 persons including Members of Parliament, officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ambassadors, diplomats (Embassies of Germany, France, USA, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Japan, Ukraine, Egypt, and Argentine) and representatives of international organizations accredited in Armenia, experts-analysts, NGO representatives, students and journalists.
Key Results of the Event
• During the conference, civil society actors, Armenian officials and NATO representatives had a chance to discuss the current state of NATO-Armenia cooperation and propose new initiatives
• Through media coverage we managed to reach a wider audience and inform them about NATO-Armenia cooperation
• The conference brought together more than 110 persons from different political parties, NGOs and civil groups
• The conference showed the importance of NATO-Armenia cooperation and the importance of deepening that cooperation
Media Coverage of the Event
The conference was widely covered by Armenian mass media. We would like to mention that Armenia TV, ArmNews, Kentron TV and Ararat TV covered the event.
For photos and more information, please visit the Facebook page of FNF South Caucasus: