Editor's Note: Details added
Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 7 / Trend E. Ostapenko /
NATO's new strategic concept is designed to determine the alliance's further steps to repel new threats, Polish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Michal Labenda said.
"NATO's new strategic concept is designed to determine the alliance's further steps to repel new threats," he said at an international conference on "NATO After the Lisbon Summit: A New Strategic Concept" in Baku. "The current common security threats were included in five points at the NATO summit in Lisbon - the situation in Afghanistan, cyber security, security from weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism and protection against natural disasters."
The NATO summit was held in Lisbon on Nov. 19-20.
The Polish diplomat called for resuming the dialogue between NATO and Russia as an important achievement at the summit. Labenda said the NATO-Russia Council is an important part of implementing the Corfu Process.
The Corfu Process aims to ensure European security.
NATO is open to cooperation with Russia, he added. Not only NATO member countries, but also partner countries will benefit from such an alliance, Labenda said.
He stressed that a true partnership must be based on transparency, openness, predictability and responsibility.
The diplomat said it is important to create a single missile defense system in Europe. All NATO countries can only be protected from a nuclear threat this way, he said.
Reforms on the functioning of the NATO General Staff, reducing the budget and eliminating some NATO committees were discussed at the summit. However, this should not affect the alliance's ability to respond to modern threats. The summit was just a first step toward the further reforming ofo the organization and the defining of a strategy for the next decade, he said.
The partnership between Azerbaijan and NATO will benefit the Azerbaijani people, East-West Research Center Director Arastun Orujlu said.
"One must not forget that besides the military component, NATO is an influential political bloc," he said. "I think that the civil society in Azerbaijan must participate in developing cooperation with NATO."
Speaking about regional security, Orujlu mentioned the issue of the Iranian nuclear program. He said it is difficult to guess Azerbaijan's future position on the issue. He also noted that NATO refused to provide Georgia and Ukraine with a roadmap for membership and put these countries in a vulnerable position in relation to Russia.
However, he spoke optimistically about future cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO.
"I hope that I will be able to talk about the results of cooperation rather than its opportunities at the meeting next time," he said.
NATO's attitude toward the South Caucasus and cooperation with countries in the region as part of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) testify to the organization's open position regarding newly democratic in countries the South Caucasus, Azerbaijani expert on security issues Bakhtiar Aslanbayli said.
However, he noted a number of challenges facing integration, as according to the NATO charter, the organization cannot accept new members if their territories are occupied. Consequently, Georgia's membership in NATO is impossible given Russia's military presence on its territory.
"The process of Azerbaijan's integration into NATO is also difficult due to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said. "NATO's position on the issue is clear. NATO supports the format of talks within the OSCE Minsk Group."
The foundation for cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO was laid through the signing of a document within the framework of the Partnership for Peace on May 4, 1994. Azerbaijan was one of 27 OSCE member countries to join the program.
In April 1996, an official document envisaging concrete directions of cooperation was signed within the framework of the Partnership for Peace. Now, Azerbaijan is fulfilling about 50 tasks in conformity with the program.
On Aug. 3, 2005, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the approval of an action plan on an individual partnership between Azerbaijani and NATO.
Now, cooperation is carried out within the second phase of the IPAP between Azerbaijan and NATO.
The security of Azerbaijan is threatened by a number of countries, Azerbaijani opposition Musavat party Chairman Isa Gambar said. He specifically noted Russia and Iran. Therefore, it is necessary to facilitate the integration process into NATO as soon as possible, he said.
However, any country whose territory is partially occupied cannot be a NATO member, he said.
"This is a closed circle," Gambar stressed. "We need to get out of it."
He also said international organizations are losing their authority in Azerbaijan - in particular the Council of Europe and OSCE. However, Azerbaijan has not lost faith in NATO yet, he said.