Statement By NATO Spokesman

STATEMENT BY NATO SPOKESMAN

A1 Plus | 19:14:42 | 13-09-2004 | Politics |

NATO Spokesman Mr. James Appathurai has today announced about
cancellation of the exercise Co-operative Best Effort 2004, which
was scheduled to begin today in Azerbaijan.

All PfP exercises are agreed and conducted on the principle
of inclusiveness for all Allies and Partners which wish to
participate. Nations participating in Cooperative Best Effort 2004
agreed and have supported the exercise based on this principle.

We regret that the principle of inclusiveness could not be upheld in
this case, leading to the cancellation of the exercise.

Cooperative Best Effort exercises are an important series of live
exercises on the Partnership for Peace calendar. They are designed to
provide basic knowledge on Peace Support Operations (PSO) at small
unit level. In the Caucasus, Cooperative Best Effort has already
taken place in Georgia and in Armenia.