On 19 July, within the official two-day visit of the Republic of Macedonia, the Assistant Secretary General for NATO Public Diplomacy, H.E Ambassador Tacan Ildem paid a visit to the Public Affairs Regional Centre (PARC).
Accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Bekim Maksuti, H.E Ambassador Ildem had the opportunity to get familiarized on the spot with the Mission, Goals and activities that PARC offers within the frames of NATO Partnership Education and Training Centers (PTEC) Network.
During his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Maksuti stressed out that since its establishment in 2005, PARC has made great efforts in developing Public Affairs capacities among the countries in theSouth Eastern Europe. Moreover, since becoming a PTEC member in 2013, PARC expanded its outreach beyond the Region, by opening up to all NATO and partner countries.
“We are therefore extremely proud that we have this training facility and that we have offered PARC to share it with our partners and NATO. That was our guiding principle for offering PARC beyond the Region, in full alignment with the outcomes from Chicago NATO Summit, Smart Defence initiative, and the reinforced recognition of the importance of Public Affairs in our overall efforts aimed towards peace and security.
By offering our Training Centre for Public Affairs to all NATO and partner countries we send a strong signal that Republic of Macedonia is prepared to offer assistance and support not only in peace support operations but also in the Public Affairs area where NATO is lacking skilled Public Affairs officers”– emphasized in his speech the Deputy Minister.
Ambassador Ildem expressed his immense satisfaction for having the opportunity to have the on site visit to PARC (the only PTEC exclusively specialized for Public Affairs) and pointed out that having such capacity is of great value for all NATO and Partner countries in today’s changing media and security landscape.
He also pointed out that NATO PDD is certainly interested in developing and enhancing the further cooperation with PARC especially in the area of monitoring and analyzing the hostile narratives, fighting fake news, propaganda and hybrid security threats by building resilience to cope with this new phenomenon.
GALLERY
