*EPF308 05/08/2002
Text: NATO, Russia Discuss Scientific Cooperation to Combat Terrorism
(Task force identifies 17 promising areas for joint activity) (520)

Experts and policy-makers from NATO countries and the Russian Federation met in Brussels April 29 to examine possible cooperation in scientific studies on combating terrorism.

A NATO press release said the task force identified seventeen "promising" areas for cooperation including medical countermeasures and assistance; communications and the role of the media; detection, decontamination and destruction of chemical and biological agents; and modeling and simulation.

Following is the text of the release:

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NATO
Brussels

NATO-RUSSIA SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION TO COMBAT TERRORISM

MEETING OF NEW TASK FORCE

On 29 April a special meeting of a Task Force of Russian and NATO country experts and policy-makers was held at NATO Headquarters to examine the potential for NATO-Russia cooperation in scientific studies on combating terrorism.

This Task Force identified seventeen promising areas for cooperation, based on inputs from the relevant Russian ministries, the NATO Security-Related Civil Science and Technology Panel and the NATO Research & Technology Organization. The Task Force also recommended the establishment of a NATO-Russia Core Group to lead in organising specific activities. The Core Group will also maintain contact with other NATO and non-NATO bodies to ensure a coordinated approach to the problem.

One ground rule in all of these efforts is that activities are to be carefully selected and organized so that no information would be developed which could be useful to potential terrorists. The non-classified topics to be treated must be carefully selected so as to avoid the more sensitive areas, which will be addressed in other fora. However, there are many important scientific subjects which fall within this scope and which can benefit from collaboration between Russian and NATO country experts. These include among others such topics as medical countermeasures and assistance; communications and the role of the media; detection, decontamination and destruction of chemical and biological agents; modelling and simulation; and general education and training measures.

Background to the NATO-Russia initiative in science and technology

In October 2001, Secretary General Robertson of NATO and President Putin of Russia met to discuss how to enhance the NATO-Russia relationship. One of the topics they addressed was combating terrorism, and in particular they agreed to conduct cooperative NATO-Russia scientific activities to reduce the impact of terrorism.

In response to this initiative, the NATO Science Committee was invited to collaborate with Russia on non-classified, civil science approaches for combating terrorism. The Security-Related Civil Science and Technology (SST) Panel under the Science Committee set up a special task force to identify possible topics for future activity. The first NATO-Russia activity held as a result of this process was an Advanced Research Workshop dealing with the social and psychological consequences of terrorism, held at NATO Headquarters in March 2002. During this workshop, experts from Russia joined NATO country specialists in developing recommendations on how to reduce the terrorist impact. The event was sponsored by the NATO Science Programme, with participation and assistance from the NATO R&T Organization.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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