Assemblée parlementaire de l'OTAN
HomeMEDIA RESOURCES2008 Berlin SessionPRESS RELEASES23 May 2008 - NATO AND RUSSIA MUST COOPERATE MORE CLOSELY TO COMBAT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

23 May 2008 - NATO AND RUSSIA MUST COOPERATE MORE CLOSELY TO COMBAT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Facebook
Twitter
Delicious
Google Buzz
diggIt
RSS

BERLIN, 23 May 2008 – Now is the time for NATO and Russia to move to the next level of their mutual cooperation in the field of combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their vectors, said a senior official of the transatlantic Alliance on Friday in Berlin, during the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. “Since the signing in 2002 of the NATO-Russia Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, we have made progress in the fight against the proliferation of WMD; however, I would wish us to reach more concrete results,” stated Roberto Zadra, Deputy Head of the WMD Centre at NATO.

Whereas in the beginning, relations were slow but promising, in particular in the area of the exchange  of sensitive information, Mr Zadra expressed the view that in the future, a certain number of areas will have to be the subject of closer cooperation, listing as examples cooperation on nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical (NRBC) risks, as well as the problems of detection and decontamination. “These are areas in which we could do more, with the final goal being to reach interoperability between us,” he stressed to the parliamentarians from the 26 NATO member countries and Russia . Mr Zadra did however concede that with the elections coming up in the United States , 2008 should not be expected to be the most dynamic year in the area of cooperation between NATO and Russia .

The Head of the Delegation from the Turkish Parliament, Vahit Erdem, regretted the lack of cooperation between NATO and Russia in the field of WMD, given that Iran is known to be importing this type of technology. In Mr Zadra’s view, the answers are to be found elsewhere than within the NATO-Russia Council, since the specific problem of Iran is currently under discussion in numerous other fora.
Share