To confront security challenges, the Gulf states seek to enhance cooperation with NATO

Nadia Al-Dabbas - Kuwait

While the Middle East region is witnessing extremely important challenges and tensions, Kuwait hosted an expanded meeting between members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Gulf partners in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, topping the security file and documenting cooperation in this field.

This meeting, hosted by Kuwait represented by the National Security Agency, was held on the sidelines of the celebration held on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the establishment and launch of the "Istanbul Cooperation Initiative", which provides for cooperation in the military fields between the Gulf and NATO countries.

The ceremony was held at the regional center hosted by Kuwait for the NATO Alliance and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, an initiative that was launched in 2004, and under the umbrella of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE.

This time, representatives of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman participated in the meeting, alongside the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Strengthening relationships
During the expanded meeting, the head of the Kuwaiti National Security Service, Sheikh Thamer Al-Sabah, disclosed the endeavor to strengthen relations between the Gulf countries and NATO in order to face security challenges, out of conviction of the importance of NATO in ensuring international peace and security.

Al-Sabah stressed that the international community is currently facing many challenges that require everyone to consolidate cooperation and intensify coordination to face security challenges, whether military or those related to terrorism and cyber security.

Speaking of the outcome of the partnership between the countries of the Cooperation Council and NATO, Al-Sabah pointed out that 889 members from the Gulf countries were trained, while the Alliance Center in Kuwait received more than 200 trainers, and more than 24 different courses were held.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who attended the meeting and celebration, noted in his speech that since the creation of NATO seventy years ago, he has not experienced challenges like he is currently facing.

He stressed that Gulf security is a NATO security, and he stressed that the alliance is seeking to expand cooperation to include Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman, which he said will increase stability and security in this part of the world.

He mentioned that agreements had been concluded that included sea security, energy security, cyber security, defense against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, arms proliferation, military and educational training, crisis management, and disaster management.

Stoltenberg cited, for example, the help of NATO to the Iraqis in preventing the emergence of the Islamic State again, and stressed that the organization still constituted a threat despite progress in eliminating it.

Panel discussions
On the sidelines of the celebration, a seminar was held titled "15 years on the Istanbul initiative for cooperation, achievements and future aspirations in partnership with the Gulf countries".

During this time, Mircha Gewana, Deputy Secretary General of NATO, praised the pivotal support provided by Kuwait on several levels, especially security, information and logistic services, stressing the importance of the NATO Regional Center in Kuwait and its great role in exchanging experiences, training and information sharing in a way that enhances the security of the region and the world.

The seminar was attended by Abdul Aziz Al-Sharekh, Director General of the Saud Al-Nasser Diplomatic Institute in Kuwait, Dr. Majid Al-Ansari from Qatar University, and the Undersecretary of the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs for International Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Al Khalifa, during which they talked about the region's problems and challenges, and ways to address risks Shrouded.

Since its accession to this initiative, Kuwait has contributed to the various activities provided by NATO, which has enabled it to become a major partner in the initiative, and then the Alliance chooses it as the headquarters for its regional center.

It is the first headquarters of NATO in a country without its members, in addition to being a training headquarters through which NATO representatives carry out specialized training and consulting tasks in all technical fields of government agencies in Kuwait and the Gulf states that are members of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.