NATO PA SPRING SESSION TO BE HELD IN

Madeira, Portugal

25-28 May 2007

Portugal will host the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's Spring Session, bringing together in Madeira some 340 parliamentarians from North America and Europe, from 25 –28 May 2007.

The Plenary session on Friday 25 will be addressed by NATO PA's President, Jose LELLO followed by Mr José SOCRATES, Prime Minister of Portugal.  The session will be marked by the presence of NATO Secretary General Jaap DE HOOP SCHEFFER and the prime Minister of the FYR of Macedonia*, Nikola GRUEVSKI.

NATO PA's five committees (Political, Defence and Security, Science and Technology, Civil Dimension of Security, Economics and Security) will meet on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 and be addressed by guest speakers.

The NATO PA Session will address the major issues on the NATO agenda, notably operations in Afghanistan, NATO transformation, relations with partner countries, democratic governance in the Black Sea Region, NATO-EU operational Co-operation, the NATO burden-sharing debate, missile proliferation and missile defence systems. 

Bringing together members of parliaments throughout the Atlantic Alliance, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly has provided for half a century an essential link between NATO and the parliaments of the NATO nations, helping to build parliamentary and public consensus in support of Alliance policies.

At the same time, it has facilitated parliamentary awareness and understanding of key security issues and provided greater transparency of NATO policies. Crucially, it has also helped to maintain and strengthen the transatlantic relationship which underpins the Alliance.

Since the end of the Cold War the Assembly has assumed a new role by integrating into its work parliamentarians from those countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and beyond who seek a closer association with NATO. This integration has provided both political and practical assistance and has contributed to the strengthening of parliamentary democracy throughout the Euro-Atlantic region, thereby complementing and reinforcing NATOÂ’s own programme of partnership and co-operation.

Programme for the Press (under construction)

Press Conferences

q       The NATO PA President's, Jose Lello, press conference will take place in Room 5, Pavilion B, at the Tecnopolo Conference Center on Friday 25 May at 11:00.

Media accreditation

q       Request for accreditation form (link to form)

Media representatives in Portugal or abroad who wish to cover the Session meetings should complete the "request for accreditation" form and send it to the address below.  For all information concerning accreditation or services available to the media also please contact:

AIMS INTERNATIONAL

Antonio SILVA
Rua Garret, 61 – 3º

1200-203 Lisboa, Portugal
 Tel.: +351 21 324 50 40 

Fax: +351 21 324 50 50 

antonio.silva@aims-international.com

For specific questions regarding NATO PA please contact

NATO Parliamentary Assembly International Secrétariat

Roberta Calorio, Media Relations Co-ordinator

Phone : + 32(0)2 50 48 154

Fax : + 32 2513 59 23

e-mail : press@nato-pa.int 

Place du Petit Sablon 3, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Switchboard: + 32 (0) 2 513 59 23

website: http:// www.nato-pa.int