NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO’s relations with Belarus

Belarus joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) in 1995. NATO and Belarus have established a relationship based on the pursuit of common interests, while also keeping open channels for dialogue. Belarus has developed an Individual Partnership Programme (IPP) and participates in the Planning and Review Process (PARP).

• Framework for cooperation

  The belief that there is value in communication and practical cooperation is put into practice in several ways. Dialogue takes place within the framework of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and is facilitated by the existence of Belarus’ diplomatic mission to NATO, which was opened in April 1998. Under the Partnership for Peace, NATO and Belarus are developing practical cooperation in a number of areas through Belarus’ Individual Partnership Programme (IPP).

  On the basis of the IPP, Belarusian personnel are attending courses in NATO countries and practical cooperation is being developed in areas such as civil emergency planning, crisis management, arms control, air defence and air traffic control, telecommunications and information processing, as well as language training and military education.

• Key areas of cooperation

  Security cooperation

  In 2009, Belarus extended an offer of rail transit to nations participating in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Completed in 2010, the agreement allows for the shipment of non-lethal cargo by rail through Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

  Another important aspect of security cooperation is Belarus’ participation in the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP). This is aimed at encouraging transparency and at assisting the country in developing capabilities and interoperability for international peace-support operations.  NATO helps set planning targets that will enable Belarus to develop some of its forces and capabilities for potential participation in PfP activities, including NATO-led PfP operations, and in this way contribute to security and stability.

  Demilitarization project

  A good example of the tangible benefits of practical cooperation is a PfP Trust Fund project, aimed at helping Belarus meet its obligations under the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction. Completed in January 2007, this joint project, led by Canada and co-funded by Lithuania and Belarus, involved the destruction of some 700,000 anti-personnel mines in Belarus.

  Science and environment

  NATO and Belarus also cooperate on security-related science. Scientists from Belarus have taken leading roles in 125 activities, including collaborating with experts from the Czech Republic on exploring safer methods to destroy stockpiles of persistent organic pesticides and holding an advanced study institute course in May 2010 on advanced training of architects of secure networks.

  Since 2001, Belarus has received grant awards for about 40 cooperative activities under NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme. Areas include telecommunications, Chernobyl-related risk assessment studies and explosive material detection systems. An ongoing project has brought together scientists from Belarus, Norway and Ukraine to assess the hazards posed by radioactive contamination in the Polessie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve.

  In addition, over 75 science fellowships have been awarded to Belarusian scientists to study in NATO countries since 1993.

  Public information

  NATO also seeks to contribute to the development of Belarusian civil society. This takes place primarily through public diplomacy activities. Belarusian non-governmental and civil society organisations are encouraged to engage with NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division.

  In every partner country an embassy of one of the NATO member states serves as a contact point and operates as a channel for disseminating information about the role and policies of the Alliance. The current NATO Contact Point Embassy in Belarus is the embassy of France.

• Evolution of relations

  Formal NATO-Belarus cooperation began when Belarus joined the Partnership for Peace in 1995. While relations have fluctuated over the years, NATO Allies firmly believe that a policy of engagement, consultation, and transparency is preferable to pursuing an approach which seeks to disengage and isolate. At the same time, NATO will continue to push Belarus to improve its democratic, human rights, and rule of law standards, in line with the commitments it has undertaken in joining the Partnership fo Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.

  Key milestones

  1992	Belarus joins the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC, later renamed the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 1997).
  1995	Belarus joins the Partnership for Peace, a programme aimed at increasing security and defence cooperation between NATO and individual Partner countries..
  	Belarus takes part in a NACC meeting, for the first time, in June, in Oslo, Norway.
  1998	Belarus opens a permanent mission at NATO Headquarters.
  1999	Belarus temporarily halts all cooperation with NATO, including the PfP programme and EAPC, in protest at NATO’s Kosovo air campaign.
  2004	Belarus joins the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP).
  2006	NATO Allies condemn the presidential election in Belarus as failing to meet international standards and conduct a review of NATO-Belarus relations.
  2007	NATO and Belarus complete the first PfP trust fund project in Belarus, which destroyed some 700,000 anti-personnel mines.
  2010	NATO completes the arrangements with several countries, including Belarus, for the transit of non-lethal ISAF cargo to Afghanistan by rail.
  2011	NATO sponsors new flood risk monitoring system in Ukraine and Belarus