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Cooperation through parliamentary diplomacy: video presentation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly HIGHLIGHTS 2 May 2012 - MEDIA ADVISORY - NATO PA SPRING SESSION The Parliament of Estonia will host the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's Spring Session in Tallinn from Friday 25 May to Monday 28 May 2012. The Session will bring together some 300 parliamentarians from the 28 NATO member countries from North America and Europe as well as delegates from partner countries and observers to discuss common international security concerns and adopt the reports prepared by the Assembly’s committees. Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May will be devoted to the meetings of the NATO PA’s five Committees: Political, Defence and Security, Science and Technology, Civil Dimension of Security and Economics and Security. Each Committee will discuss Reports on a broad range of security and defence topics and will be addressed by prestigious speakers from government, academia, ...  Read More 30 April 2012 - NATO PA PRESIDENT CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF YULIA TYMOSHENKO FOR APPROPRIATE MEDICAL TREATMENT Reacting to reports of ill-treatment suffered by Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko during her coerced transfer from prison to hospital as well as to her decision to start a hunger strike, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Dr Karl A. Lamers stated today: “I am shocked by the brutal and degrading treatment of Ms Tymoshenko . There should be no room for such unacceptable acts in Ukraine.”  Read More 27 April 2012 - A NATO PA DELEGATION VISIT TO TURKEY TO DISCUSS ANKARA’S ROLE IN THE REGION A delegation of 32 members of parliament from 13 NATO member countries and one partner country, led by Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam (France) and Gianni Vernetti (Italy), visited Turkey on 24-27 April 2012. The members of two of the Assembly’s Sub-Committees – on Democratic Governance and on East-West Economic Co-operation and Convergence – met with top officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, National Defence, Economy, Energy and the EU Affairs. The delegation also met with professors and students of the Bilkent University in Ankara and the Galatasaray University in Istanbul.  Read More 26 April 2012 - SOUTH-EAST EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS PLEDGE CLOSER COOPERATION ON SMART DEFENCE At the conclusion of a two day regional conference on Smart Defence cooperation in South Eastern Europe, parliamentary delegations from 10 NATO member and partner countries adopted a declaration calling for closer regional defence cooperation in the framework of NATO's Smart Defence initiative. In their joint declaration, parliamentarians from South Eastern Europe “stressed the will to work together to preserve our prosperity and our security by prioritizing, specializing and then seeking a regional solution as the most effective way the region can emerge stronger from these times of economic difficulty and austerity measures.” They called for “the adoption of an advanced vision beyond the traditional approach, the articulation of a new mentality opening a new window on a regional Smart ...  Read More 23 April 2012 - “SMART DEFENCE WILL HELP NATO KEEP ITS PROMISE OF PROVIDING SECURITY IN SOLIDARITY”, NATO PA PRESIDENT SAYS Addressing a gathering of parliamentarians from South Eastern Europe in Tirana on Monday 23 April, NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Dr Karl A. Lamers warned that “the economic crisis is challenging the main promise of the Alliance: to provide security in solidarity.” Responding to this challenge requires “a new mindset” Dr Lamers stressed, and “our national parliaments have a responsibility to be the drivers of this new mindset”. “Cooperation is no longer an option, but a necessity”, Dr Lamers told participants at the conference; “With collective solutions, countries can acquire capabilities they could not afford individually. With collective solutions, we can ensure that defence cuts in one country do not put at risk our ability, collectively, to respond to crises decisively, when an ...  Read More