North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Belarus is willing to maintain and expand constructive cooperation with NATO on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

Through its' multi-faceted foreign policy and participation in international security institutions, Belarus contributes to the preservation of peace and security in Europe.

The history of relations between Belarus and NATO began in 1992, when the country joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, which was transformed in 1997 into the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council – EAPC.

In 1995, the Republic of Belarus joined the “Partnership for Peace” (PfP) programme, viewing it as an important tool to strengthen cooperation in the political, military, economic, scientific and legal areas with NATO in general, as well as with individual NATO members states.

In April 1998, Belarus opened its' Permanent Mission to NATO in Brussels.

The main planning document of Belarus’ participation in the PfP is the Individual Partnership and Cooperation Program (IPCP), which is adopted on a biannual basis. The first Individual Partnership Program with Belarus was endorsed by the NATO Council in July 1997.

Priority areas of cooperation between Belarus and NATO within the framework of the IPSS for 2020 — 2021 were confidence and security building measures, arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of WMD, mutual monitoring of exercises, civil emergency planning, protecting the population and territories from natural and man-made emergencies, cybersecurity and information protection, military education and preparation for participation in multinational operations, cooperation in the framework of the program “Science for Peace and Security”, collaboration in border protection, countering human trafficking, illegal migration, language training, participation in the NATO cataloging system.

In 2004, Belarus acceded to the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP) with the main task to develop the framework of military cooperation with NATO.

In the framework of PARP at NATO Headquarters the sessions of the Joint Security Committee “Belarus + NATO” at the level of military experts to define the Partnership Goals (for a biennial period) to sum up the intermediate results of their implementation. Currently, the implementation of 19 Partnership Goals including general objectives, ground forces and air forces cooperation is being fulfilled.

Collaboration with NATO on emergency response is carried out through participation in the Committee for Civil Emergency Planning, the Civil Protection Group, which are held in the format of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, interaction with the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, and also through the PARP.

In 2017-2018, the Belarusian rescue team took part in exercises under the NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (EADRCC) held in Bosnia and Serbia correspondingly.

On October 16, 2019 Minsk hosted the first Information Day of NATO, organized within the framework of the NATO Science for Peace and Security program.