Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 99 is a U.S. invitational, multinational maritime exercise conducted in the Baltic Region scheduled 2-18 Jun 99. Admiral Danish Fleet is this year's co-host. BALTOPS provides a basis for promoting mutual understanding and maritime platform interoperability between U.S. Navy, NATO, and non-NATO participants through a series of multilateral training exercises in air warfare, shallow water undersea warfare, electronic warfare, air defense, surface warfare, communications, fast patrol boat operations, seamanship, and mine warfare.

Read about the PfP-programme as it was exercised in Denmark last year:

HISTORY

Partnership for Peace (PfP) was introduced by NATO at the Brussels Summit in January 1994. The states participating in the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) – now succeeded by The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) – and other member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who are able and willing to contribute, are eligible to join the NATO member states in this Partnership.

To date twenty-seven (27) nations have accepted the invitation to join.

FRAMEWORK AND COUNCILS

Partnership for Peace was established within the framework of the NACC and builds on the momentum of cooperation created by that council. The EAPC was created at the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting in May 1997 to provide a framework for both an expanded political dimension to PfP, and for closer practical military cooperation.

While PfP focuses in particular on practical, defence-related and military cooperation activities, the EAPC provides a forum for broad consultations on political and security-related economic questions, information and scientific and environmental matters. It also facilitates consultations and cooperation on issues such as civil emergency, disaster preparedness, armaments cooperation, and Peace Support Operations (PSO).

THE ENHANCED PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE PROGRAMME

Following the May 1997 NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Cooperation Partners will become more deeply involved in and gain greater influence on planning and directing future programmes and activities. I.a. the enhanced PfP programme aims at developing a more operational role for PfP cooperation. COOPERATIVE JAGUAR 98 certainly supports and promotes this aspect by presenting a varied mix of operational challenges to be met by participating forces.

Enhanced PfP also calls for greater involvement of Partners in planning and decision making. Again COOPERATIVE JAGUAR 98 contributes constructively. Partner Nations have been actively involved in all relevant steps of the building bloc planning process and Partner Nations play prominent roles in the operational command and control structure established for the exercise.

As a relatively advanced exercise, COOPERATIVE JAGUAR 98 represents the common desire of NATO and Partner Nations to support and progress the PfP concept and the enhanced PfP Programme. The exercise provides a fine opportunity towards meeting the aim of the concept and the objectives of the programme.

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