Euro Atlantic Council Links The Euro Atlantic Council of Romania Euro Atlantic Council Romania The Euro Atlantic Council Romania (EACR) is a consortium of Romanian NGOs whose activities are aimed at promoting and enhancing awareness about the Euro-Atlantic community of values and its institutions, especially the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. The consortium is recognized by the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) as the Romanian national organization member within the ATA structures. The EACR is currently an associate member of ATA, pending the joining of NATO by Romania in 2004. The Council’s current members are: Casa NATO, coordinator and member since 1999. Manfred Worner Euro Atlantic Association, founding member since 1999. George C. Marshall Romania Association, member since 2002. EURISC Foundation, member since 2002. Atlantic Treaty Association The Atlantic Treaty Association - ATA is a federation of national bodies aimed to enhance public opinion awareness of the democratic values, peace and security, to promote dialogue and mutual understanding within the Euro-Atlantic and Mediterranean area. The purposes of the Association are: (a) to educate and inform the public concerning the missions and responsibilities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (b) to conduct research into the various purposes and activities of that Organization and the development of their extension to countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as to pursue a dialogue with those bordering the Mediterranean (c) to promote the solidarity of the peoples of the North Atlantic area and of those whose governments have signed PfP agreements with NATO (d) to promote democracy (e) to develop, as determined under this Constitution, permanent cooperation between all its member organizations for a better achievement of such purposes. Membership of the Association is limited to one duly constituted non-governmental organization in each of the Member States of NATO, the members of which approve the North Atlantic Treaty and the obligations which it creates for its signatories. The position of Associate Member can also be granted by the Assembly on proposal by the Council, to non-governmental organizations constituted according to the same criteria, in states which are not members of NATO which have signed with it Partnership for Peace Agreements. The position of Observer Member may also be granted by the Assembly. The Members, the Associate Members and the Observer Members of the Association retain their autonomy. Within the ATA, the Youth Atlantic Treaty Association and the Atlantic Association of Young Political Leaders offer the young generation the opportunity to participate in ATA activities. The Youth Atlantic Treaty Association (YATA) regroups, under the aegis of ATA, young people from all the national organizations members of ATA. The most recent event, Prague Atlantic Student Summit, was organized in Prague, during the November NATO Summit. Information can be found on the web pages of the Atlantic Council of the US and the Center for Democracy and Free Enterprise. The Atlantic Association of Young Political Leaders is a network between young political leaders from various political parties in the Euro-Atlantic area. For its members, AAYPL organizes seminars, international conferences, study tours and publishes a regular Newsletter and a website at http://www.aaypl.org. Mr.Liviu Muresan -- EURISC Foundation, Mr.Sorin Encutescu -- "Manfred Woerner" Euro-Atlantic Association, Mr.Doru Frunzulica -- "George C. Marshall – Romania" Association, and Mr.Alex Serban -- "Casa NATO" Association, at the signing of the Memorandum regarding the restructuring of the Euro-Atlantic Council Romania, May 24, 2002 EACR History Founded in 1999, the EACR was created by three organizations active at the time in the sphere of Euro-Atlantic integration: the Euro Atlantic Center (today Casa NATO), the Manfred Wörner Euro Atlantic Association and the Atlantic Council of Romania. Joined by their commitment to enhance the civil society’s active role and voice in the process of strengthening democratic and market institutions, developing civilian control and civil-military relations and representing Romanian academic, NGO and journalistic communities internationally, these members actively began to serve as a catalyst throughout civil society. During the 2002 Bucharest Summit of the Vilnius Group – The Spring of New Allies – Mr. Allan Lee Williams, OBE, ATA President and Mr. Antonio BORGES de CARVALHO, Secretary General, visited Casa NATO to meet with Romanian NGOs and discuss the possibilities of partnership and cooperation in the future. Subsequently, four organizations joined together by signing a memorandum of understanding to restructure the EACR and decided upon a single point location to address administrative, financial and communication links to the Paris office of the ATA. Casa NATO was nominated as the contact point and is the headquarters for the Euro Atlantic Council Romania. EACR Activities in 2002 ATA Spring Council Meeting in Bruxelles ATA General Assembly Meeting in Istanbul National Organizations Events (Italy, Spain, Greece, Albania) Prague Summit – PASS EACR Activities in 2003 Web Site opportunities for students to interact, scholarships Publications Conferences Contact us euroatlantic@casanato.org Prague Atlantic Student Summit The Prague Atlantic Student Summit (PASS) was held November 20-23, 2002 in conjunction with the official Alliance summit. An initiative of the Atlantic Council of the United States, PASS was held under the auspices of the Atlantic Treaty Association. 170 undergraduate and graduate-level students from 37 European and North American countries participated in the PASS program, which consisted of two parts. The first two days featured meetings with senior Alliance leaders, including Presidents George W. Bush, Vaclav Havel, and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Secretary General Lord Robertson, SACEUR General Joseph Ralston, the Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic and Portugal, and the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Romania. The second part of the PASS program involved a simulation of an Alliance ministerial meeting (see Simulation page) at which the future roles of the Alliance were discussed and a Central Asian crisis was managed by the student 'North Atlantic Council'. At a time when there is much debate about the future role of NATO, PASS provided a unique opportunity for the next generation of Alliance leaders to hear first hand from current Alliance leaders and to grapple for themselves with the strategic challenges facing the Alliance.