“Armenia and NATO can do a large amount of work together”

On March 15 2007, the Information Center on NATO in Yerevan organized a news conference for the Head of Defense Cooperation in the Defense Policy and Planning Division of NATO's International Staff George Katsirdakis.

He declared that “Armenia and NATO can jointly do a large amount of work, and the Alliance is very interested in cooperation with Armenia”.

George Katsirdakis held meetings with the leadership of the National Security Service and the Armenian Police, visited the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Chief Staff of the Armed Forces. George Katsirdakis informed that he had discussed issues related to the exchange of intelligence information, the strengthening of border security of Armenia.

“We have a quite rich agenda of cooperation within the framework of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP). I want to stress that the cooperation with NATO does not imply the cessation of cooperation with other partners”, George Katsirdakis stated.

“There is a large experience of cooperation and reforms, collected from many countries, which we can offer Armenia. On the other hand, the experience of Armenia can be of interest for other partners”, George Katsirdakis stated.

The Alliance representative noted that “NATO gives advice to countries on a voluntary basis”. “We do not tell you to do anything. We just advise, and you decide, whether to follow the advice or not”, George Katsirdakis noted.