Co-operation and Partnerships

The Assembly has an extensive programme of co-operation and partnership with non-member parliaments which complements NATO's own partnership activities through parliamentary dialogue and capacity building.

Since the end of the Cold War, the NATO-PA has adapted its traditional mission and structure to accord better with the new realities of Europe's fundamentally altered security and political landscape. The Assembly has worked to assist transition democracies by including their parliamentarians directly in NATO-PA deliberations. The NATO-PA broadened its mandate in 1990 when it first began to admit Central and Eastern European countries as Associate members.

NATO-PA delegations have participated in election monitoring and led seminars on parliamentary oversight of military and security policy - a vital dimension of democratic governance. The Assembly launched a number of new programs to institutionalize this new orientation and played a key role both in moving the Alliance toward the goal of enlargement and generating consensus on the virtues of inviting new members to accede to the Atlantic Alliance.

Associate members have been integrated into almost all aspects of the Assembly's work. They participate in Assembly Sessions and in a number of Committee and Sub-Committee meetings. In addition, special programmes have been put in place which are specifically dedicate for engagement with partners.

A central component of this outreach effort is the Rose-Roth programme.

A further dimension of Assembly outreach involves Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.

Other outreach activities focus on the Southern Mediterranean through the Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group.