ARMENIA HOSTS MAJOR NATO MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISE

RIA Novosti, Russia
April 27 2007

YEREVAN, April 27 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia is hosting part of a
13-day NATO exercise that involves more than a thousand military
communications specialists from 42 nations, a spokesman for the
Defense Ministry said Friday.

Combined Endeavor 2007 is a U.S. European Command-sponsored
exercise that brings NATO, Partnership for Peace (PfP) and other
nations together to practice interoperability of command, control,
communications and computer systems from participating nations
in preparation for future combined humanitarian, peacekeeping and
disaster relief operations.

"This year, Armenia, as a primary operational zone, is hosting
[military] delegations from Croatia, France, Russia, Georgia and the
United States," Seiran Shaksuvaryan said, adding that the rest of
the participants will operate from Baumholder, Germany.

Armenia has been a full participant in the exercises for the last
five years and will become the main host country for Combined Endeavor
starting in 2008, the official said.

"Cooperation between Armenia’s Defense Ministry and U.S. European
Command is developing successfully under several programs," Armenian
Defense Minister Michael Arutyunyan said at the Combined Endeavor
opening ceremony Friday.

He said Armenia and NATO had reached a preliminary agreement to
conduct joint military maneuvers on the country’s territory in 2008.

Combined Endeavor began in 1995 as a simple effort to bring NATO and
former Warsaw-pact countries together under the auspices of Partnership
for Peace, and has been held annually since then.

The current war games will be held from April 27 until May 10.