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On February 27, Defense Minister of Kazakhstan Adilbek Dzhaksybekov had a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Latvia Juris Maklakovs to the country.
The meeting was organized on the occasion of the Latvian Embassy obtaining the functions of the NATO Contact Point Embassy in Kazakhstan, Kazinform refers to the Defense Ministry's press service.
The sides discussed the prospects of bilateral cooperation within the Partnership for Peace Program. Special emphasis was made on the development of the peacekeeping potential of the Kazakh Armed Forces.
The cooperation between the Defense Ministry of Kazakhstan and NATO within the Partnership for Peace Program is aimed at developing a national peace-keeping potential, participation in joint training and exchange of experience in planning, implementation and all-round support for peacekeeping operations.
The NATO contact embassies are in no way diplomatic missions, but they play a significant role in spreading information, its goals and directions of its policy. These embassies also help organize visits of the Secretary General, members of the International Secretariat and other NATO members to the country where they are posted.
'Steppe Eagle' peacekeeping exercises are annually conducted on the territory of Kazakhstan with the participation of Kazakh military men and representatives of foreign countries within the Individual Partnership Action Plan between Kazakhstan and NATO. The exercises were carried out in the spirit of the Partnership for Peace Program in September 2012. The Kazakh, U.S, British and Tajik Armed Forces and representatives from Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, France, Ukraine and Switzerland took part in these exercises.
The Partnership for Peace training centre of the Military Institute of Land Forces (KAZTSENT) was created to train Kazakh military men in line with NATO standards and procedures.