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Chapter 16: Parliamentary and Non-Governmental Organisations NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) Alliance cohesion is substantially enhanced by the support of freely elected parliamentary representatives. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) (formerly known as the North Atlantic Assembly) is an interparliamentary organisation which, since 1955, has acted as a forum for legislators from the North American and West European member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance to meet together to consider issues of common interest and concern. In the past few years, in keeping with the major political changes which have occurred in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the Assembly has significantly broadened both its membership and its mandate. Seventeen of the Partner countries of the Alliance have associate delegation status in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. This enables them to participate in the work of the Assembly and in its debates. These are focusing increasingly on the security of Europe as a whole, as well as on the specific economic, political, environmental and cultural problems of Central and Eastern Europe. The countries which have associate delegation status in the NATO Parliament Assembly are as follows : Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1, Ukraine. The Assembly is completely independent of NATO but constitutes a link between national parliaments and the Alliance which encourages governments to take Alliance concerns into account when framing national legislation. It also acts as a permanent reminder that intergovernmental decisions reached within NATO are ultimately dependent on political endorsement in accordance with the due constitutional process of democratically elected parliaments. The Assembly was thus directly concerned with assisting in the process of ratification of the Protocols of Accession signed at the end of 1997, which culminated in the accession of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to the Alliance in March 1999. Similarily, the Assembly can be expected to play a key role in the ratification process to follow the next wave of enlargement to be decided at the Prague Summit in November 2002. Delegates to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly are nominated by their parliaments according to their national procedures, on the basis of party representation in the parliaments. The Assembly therefore represents a broad spectrum of political opinion. The Assembly meets twice a year in Plenary Session. Meetings are held in member and associate member countries on a rotational basis at the invitation of national parliaments. The Assembly functions through six committees: Political; Defence and Security; Economics and Security; Science and Technology; the Civilian Dimension of Security; and the Mediterranean Special Group. These are both study groups as well as major forums for discussion. The committees study and examine all major contemporary issues arising in their respective fields of interest. They meet regularly throughout the year and report to the Plenary Sessions of the Assembly. There is a Secretariat with a staff of 30 people, based in Brussels. The primary purpose of the Assembly is educative and consensus-building. It allows Alliance legislators to convey national pre-occupations and concerns to their governments and to the decision-making bodies of the Alliance and to inform each other of the very different national and regional perspectives that exist on many key issues of mutual interest. Similarly, members of the Assembly are able to use the experience and information gained through participation in its activities when exercising their roles within national parliaments. This helps to ensure that Alliance interests and considerations are given maximum visibility in national discussions. The Assembly also constitutes an important touchstone for assessing parliamentary and public opinion on Alliance issues and, through its deliberations, provides a clear indication of public and parliamentary concerns regarding Alliance policies. In this sense the Assembly plays an indirect but important role in policy formation. Recommendations and Resolutions of the Assembly are forwarded to national governments, parliaments and other relevant organisations, and to the Secretary General of NATO, who formulates replies based on discussions within the North Atlantic Council. Relations with Central and Eastern European countries have been coordinated under the so-called Rose-Roth Initiative, initiated in 1990 by US Congressman Charlie Rose, then President of the Assembly, and US Senator Bill Roth. The initiative has three aspects: the active participation of Central and Eastern European parliamentarians in the biannual meeting of the Assembly; the holding of special Rose-Roth seminars at regular intervals on subjects of specific interest to parliamentarians from CEE countries. These are organised in cooperation with member parliaments or the parliaments of CEE countries and ensure a regular dialogue among legislators on issues of common concern. Since the commencement of the initiative, more than 30 such seminars have been held; the programme also supports the development of parliamentary staff through two-week training programmes or short periods spent at the Assembly's Secretariat in Brussels. This programme is designed for parliamentary staff working for Foreign Affairs or Security Committees, or in other fields of international relations. The aims of the Rose-Roth Initiative are: to integrate and involve parliamentarians from CEE countries in Assembly activities; to promote a sense of partnership and cooperation at the legislative level; to improve mutual understanding among legislators of their various problems and perspectives; to provide CEE parliamentarians with information on current issues; to promote the development of appropriate civil-military relations in CEE countries by helping CEE legislators to become more knowledgeable about security issues; and by demonstrating the relationship that exists in Alliance countries between parliamentarians, civil servants and military officials; to provide CEE legislators with practical expertise and experience in parliamentary practices and procedures; to help the development of a parliamentary staff structure in CEE parliaments in order to provide parliamentarians with the kind of assistance available to their Western counterparts. The Assembly's role in developing relations with Central and Eastern European parliaments was recognised in the NATO-Russia Founding Act and the NATO-Ukraine Charter, both signed in 1997. These documents called for expanded dialogue and cooperation between the North Atlantic Assembly and the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) respectively. A NATO-Russian Federation Standing Committee, mirroring the NATO-Russia Council, was created in 2002. In this new parliamentary body which will meet on an annual basis, Russia will have equal rights, including voting rights, in areas of common interests. The NATO PA-Russia Standing Committee will not replace the current Joint Monitoring Group that will continue its activities. The Assembly's outreach programme is separate from, but reinforces, the work of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and the Alliance's Partnership for Peace initiative (PfP). Particular emphasis is placed on helping to achieve a key PfP objective, namely the establishment of democratic control of armed forces. Assembly activities aim to provide the expertise, experience and information that will help CEE parliamentarians to become more effective in influencing the development of national defence policies and in ensuring that the control of their armed forces is fully democratic. Further information on the NATO Parliamentary Assembly may be obtained from its International Secretariat : Place du Petit Sablon 3 1000 Brussels Tel: 32 2 513 2865 Fax: 32 2 514 1847 E-Mail: secretariat@naa.be Website: http://www.nato-pa.int/ Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.