MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombia establishes closer information security links with NATO

Defense Minister Pinzón Bueno and NATO Secretary General Vershbow after signing the accord

Colombia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization signed an agreement on information security that will allow exploring future cooperation and consultation in areas of common interest. The agreement was signed on Tuesday in Brussels by NATO Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow and the Defense Minister of Colombia, Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno.

“As an Alliance of democracies, we are gratified when countries sharing similar values reach out to us,” the Deputy Secretary General said during his meeting with Minister Pinzón Bueno.

Ambassador Vershbow said that Allies have agreed to pursue tailored cooperation with Colombia on a case-by-case basis, in areas of common interest and that by signing this accord NATO and Colombia stress their shared interest in consultation and cooperation.

The Security of Information Agreement does not formally recognize Colombia as a NATO partner but constitutes a first step for future cooperation in the security field.

However it will facilitate the participation of Colombia in a number of NATO activities. Colombia has already participated in the 2011 NATO Conference on Building Integrity, which was held in Monterey, California.

“Colombia’s expertise in enhancing integrity in the military is precisely the kind of substantive contribution that exemplifies the added value of cooperation,” the NATO Deputy Secretary said.

The Ambassador added that NATO has a wide range of partners because global challenges require global solutions. “Cooperative security, through the development of partnerships, is one of the Alliance’s key priorities. NATO’s partnerships over the past two decades have been a real success story,” the Deputy Secretary General underlined.

He added that the Alliance has a large network of partners engaged with the organization in a variety of ways.

Before the signing of the accord Minister Pinzón held talks with NATO Supreme commander US General Philip Breedlove and addressed issues referred to integrity and transparency in security affairs as well as strengthening cooperation between Colombian Armed Forces and the multilateral organization. Colombian forces are recognized for their experience in battling terrorism and narco-traffik.

The Colombian minister also met with NATO ambassadors and representatives from Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, US, Norway, Holland, Portugal and France.

In Bogotá before leaving for the European tour Pinzón said that the purpose of contacts with NATO was ‘to become a cooperation partner as currently are Australia, New Zealand, Japan among other countries”.

Pinzón also added that France, UK and Spain have a long experience and have advanced quite a bit in home security affairs and that is today the main concern of Colombians. That is why we feel that these meetings are so significant”.