Agence France Presse — English
October 18, 2004 Monday

NATO chief starts tour of Central Asia

BRUSSELS

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer left Brussels on Monday on his first trip as
NATO secretary general to Central Asia where he will seek to step up
cooperation between the Atlantic Alliance and the strategic region,
his press office said.

De Hoop Scheffer’s tour will take him to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, meeting with the president
of each country, the office said in a statement.

He is accompanied by his new special representative for the Caucasus
and Central Asia, Robert Simmons, a former US State Department
official.

In Istanbul in late June, heads of state and government of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization called for heightened cooperation with
the strategically important Central Asian countries.

The five former Soviet republics are represented on the Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council, a body set up for consultation between NATO and
partner states. The five countries also take part in the Partnership
for Peace program aimed at encouraging reforms in members’ defense
structures.

De Hoop Scheffer also plans visits in the coming weeks to Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia.