Defence Ministers' meetings

Brussels, 9-10 October 2012

GENERAL

1. Meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the level of Defence Ministers will be held at NATO Headquarters on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 October 2012. All information about these meetings will be made available via the NATO website. This media advisory marks the opening of the online accreditation website (see below).
2. The meetings will be chaired by the NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

PROGRAMME AND POOLS

3. The definitive programme will be handed to media representatives upon accreditation. It will include restricted access by selected visual media to the opening of Council meetings and the official portrait, unrestricted access to press conferences and information about the retransmission of media events to the press working area and TV/Radio editing booths. Information about individual ministers’ media programmes should be sought directly from the national Delegation(s) concerned. A list of NATO Delegation press officers is available from the Press & Media Section and upon accreditation.
4. Press conferences are in principle media events open to all accredited media. The initial remarks of the various NATO meetings as well as the Secretary General’s press conference(s) will be broadcast live on the internal closed-circuit television system and can be viewed in the press working area. Audiovisual media representatives who wish to cover the initial remarks from inside the Council room may make a written request for a pool card to the e-mail address given at the end of this advisory. No confirmation will be sent. Pool cards for restricted-access events will be given to a small number of cameramen and photographers drawn from among those who submit an accreditation request on time; these will be distributed at the Media Centre information counter starting at 09:30 a.m. on 9 October 2012.
5. When a media representative accepts a NATO pool position it is with the strict understanding, in accordance with international practice, that the act of accepting the accreditation to be in a NATO pool implies explicit and unconditional agreement by that media representative that he/she will share immediately and upon request with other media accredited to the NATO event all information collected, and/or all material produced, while in that pool. It also implies explicit agreement that the media representative will share the material with no impediment from their own news organization, at no charge to other journalists and with no restriction on the use of the material for legitimate news purposes.
6. Media representatives can only accept the pool accreditation if they have the explicit backing of their employer to all of the conditions on providing pool material as the basis of accepting the pool position.
7. In turn, media organisations seeking pool photo materials should first contact the Wire service photo agency of which they are a member or client. Media representatives and the news organizations that employ them who accept any material from a pool accept it with the explicit and strict understanding that it must be identified as pool material any time it is used, that it can be used only for legitimate news purposes and that the receiving party has no right to sell pool material or otherwise profit from it.
8. The NATO photographers and cameramen will post the audiovisual sequences of all the media events on the NATO website; the sequences can also be obtained from the TV & Radio Unit (see the contact details below) and/or the NATO Internet Television Channel.

ACCREDITATION AND SECURITY CHECKS

9. Journalists in possession of a valid 2012 NATO permanent media pass do not need to request accreditation.
10. Media representatives not in possession of a valid 2012 NATO permanent media pass who wish to cover the meeting must apply for accreditation. Applications for accreditation can only be made on-line via internet, by clicking on the following link: mailto:Venkova.zornitza@hq.nato.int.
11. Applications for accreditation must be submitted on line no later than 12h00 GMT on Friday 4 October 2012. Requests received after that date are likely to be delayed or refused. Media representatives who have submitted the request for accreditation via the internet are encouraged to bring a print-out of the request confirmation. Late applications will not be taken into consideration for pool access.
12. The usual NATO accreditation procedures shall be applicable to this meeting. The accreditation process requires media representatives using the system for the first time to create a user name and password and to provide a digital picture (3.5 x 4.5 cm passport-type photograph in JPEG format). Media representatives who reside in Belgium are also invited to enter their Belgian press card number and issuing authority (Belgian Interior Ministry or Ministry of Foreign Affairs) into the online interface of the accreditation request.
13. Media passes will not be mailed to applicants; they must be collected in person at the Media Accreditation Office upon presentation of an ID card or passport and a valid national press pass (or accreditation letter from a recognized media organization). Media representatives will be given their accreditation at the main entrance of NATO Headquarters. Passes must be worn visibly at all times, and security personnel may ask to see another form of ID at any time. Media representatives are informed that security personnel will examine and may test equipment and personal effects carried onto the site and are advised to arrive with sufficient lead time to clear security checks.

MEDIA FACILITIES

14. Twelve TV editing booths and eight radio editing booths (each with an ISDN line, Internet access and a telephone) will be made available to representatives from those media. Contact the TV & Radio Unit (see contact details below) to reserve one of the booths, which will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
15. Journalists, wire services and photo agencies using bulky equipment are urged to bring it to the Media Centre as of the Monday 10 September afternoon. 
16. NATO also makes available one TV and one radio studio when they are not in use by senior NATO officials. These facilities are usually booked via delegations press officers wishing to accept interview requests from media organisations.

OPENING HOURS

PARKING

17. Media representatives are informed that they will not be allowed to park their vehicles inside the NATO compound. They may, however, park in the east and west car parks outside the main entrance. Uplink vans may park in a special section of the east car park, or on car park H, upon request.

ACCESS TO THE NATO AREA

18. You should be aware that major roadworks are ongoing in front of NATO HQ on Boulevard Leopold III. This will likely cause disruption to traffic in the vicinity of NATO HQ. All arrivals and departures to/from NATO, as well as to/from Brussels airport, will be affected. Additional information on the proposed works can be obtained via the following communications channels :
    • Website Beliris: http://www.beliris.be/fr/LeopoldIII/LeopoldIII.cfm. This site presents the project, the various phases of the works involved and the phases of deviations and traffic flow.
    • A call number (numéro vert) : 0800/94001 - Traffic info : Touring Mobilis : Call number 1234
    • Portail Bruxelles Mobilité : http://www.bruxellesmobilite.irisnet.be/
    • Belgian Federal Policy website : http://www.inforoutes.be/

CONTACT POINTS

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