"Jordan is one of our most valuable partners"
and "our cooperation is indeed extremely important, for several
reasons.”
These were the words of
NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Javier Colomina, on an official visit
to Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
Here partly to co-chair, with the
Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army, a two-day conference on small arms and light weapons, the NATO official
talked to the local media about several issues of concern to the alliance and
Jordan, including the possibility of opening a liaison office in Amman.
Jordan, a longstanding partner of the Mediterranean Dialogue —
launched in December 1994 with the aim of contributing to regional security and
stability — is "a very relevant partner for us within that
dialogue", said Colomina, who stressed that the alliance signed the first
defense capacity-building package with Jordan in 2014; that was updated in 2017
and again in 2021.
Cooperation happens on different levels, he said, mentioning the
practical, military and political aspects.
Jordan has been participating and sending observers to military
exercises — "actually the first ever regional exercise that was done
within the framework of the Mediterranean Dialogue was done by Jordan in
2017" —
NATO has worked "with your armed forces in terms of
interoperability… and of course you have been contributing to our operations,
particularly in Afghanistan", stressed Colomina.
Politically, "we have a very strong dialogue. His Majesty the
King has visited us on several occasions, we have organized meetings with the
secretary general, with the North Atlantic Council, we have a very fluid
relationship with your authorities, and an example of it is actually my visit
here".
The visit, he said, is part of NATO's way of finding ways "to
increase and promote cooperation".
Jordan's stabilizing role and its "very balanced approach to
the many challenges in the region we value very much", he said, stressing
that a common priority is terrorism.
"It is one of the two single threats that we have identified.
The other one, as you know, is Russia".
"So we have been working with Jordan on that for several
years and actually in the last update of the DCB [Defense and Related Security
Capacity Building Initiative] package, in 2021, we decided to prioritize the
fight against terrorism even over other priorities."
What action does NATO take vis-à-vis the issue?
According to Colomina, the alliance is working on several tracks:
training and education, including "learning from the Jordanian Armed
Forces, since you have a lot of experience, you have one of the best equipped
armed forces in the fight against terrorism"; fighting against small arms
and light weapons, hence the conference, "the first ever that we co-host
with a
Mediterranean Dialogue partner on small arms and light weapons, so it is
actually an important political message"; fighting terrorists' misuse of
internet and cyber capabilities; working with Jordanian authorities on
strategic communication with regard to the fight against terrorism; and working
on crisis management regarding terrorism.
"So those would be the five areas where we are working in the
fight against terrorism, and specifically related with the last update of the
defense capacity building package that was approved in 2021."
In the process of strengthening cooperation "with our most
valuable partners", Jordan stands to benefit from the opening of a liaison
office in Amman.
The partnership with Jordan, Colomina said, "is already at a
point where we need more people on the ground to follow up on that cooperation
— and it is very intense — and at the same time, we thought that a political
approach to that framework of cooperation was very good".
Which led, in Vilnius, where NATO held its last summit this July,
to the alliance exploring the possibility of opening an office in Amman.
"The practical and military cooperation is already being
taken care of by people that we have on the ground, that work directly with the
HQ of the Jordanian Armed Forces, but we wanted to have a more integrated
approach with an office that would be able to do a political follow up to this
relationship, together with the military and practical cooperation," said
the NATO official.
While "not there yet", such an office would "bring visibility, political will, it will push the relationship to another level because it will be the only office that we will have in the region".
And while it would follow up on the relationship with Jordan, it
would also have "a regional perspective", which aligns with the
alliance's drive to engage with different actors in the South.
If in Vilnius NATO took the decision "to launch a deep
reflection on the challenges and the threats in the South", that
"reflection" will "have to be endorsed and approved by the heads
of states in the next summit in Washington; we are establishing an independent
group of experts to look at this issue, and then with these conclusions we will
be producing a set of decisions that will be approved in Washington".
What is the status of the decision regarding the Amman office?
"We are on the right path, but the decision has not been
taken yet. I just had a meeting this morning with the chairman of the joint
chiefs of staff, and we talked at length about the establishment of the office.
I know that there is a strong interest from your authorities, there is, I would
say, a strong interest from NATO, but the process of opening an office needs a
thorough decision-making process, and we are not yet finalized with it. My
expectation is that soon enough we will be able to make a decision, but we are
not yet there."
Part of Colomina's visit is also the desire "to explain what
NATO is doing today, what are the priorities for NATO and particularly how we
look at
Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which is for us the utmost
priority today: to support Ukraine, and how our partners could contribute to
that support".
Aware that NATO's partners have different positions and different
foreign policy’s, Colomina still believes that "every partner can
contribute with different things, and that is something that I try to discuss
with all the authorities of the countries that I visit, but particularly with
the ones here in Jordan".
Declaring the Middle East Peace Process and the dangers coming
from Syria beyond the remit of the alliance, Colomina said NATO is following up
on the developments, and is aware of the "strong concern" Jordan has,
particularly regarding the latter, "but we are not part of it".
It is, however, invested in its partnership with Jordan. Hence
talk of the liaison office, which "will help us to strengthen cooperation.
We are already very, very close, but it will [bring] us definitely closer. And
then, it has, with no doubt, a very strong visibility and political message in
itself".
The message, he said, would be that "of an enduring
partnership, one that we believe should be even stronger in the future".
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