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Estonian diplomatic mission in Minsk to be NATO’s contact point embassy in Belarus

The Embassy of Estonia in Minsk will be NATO’s Contact Point Embassy (CPE) in Belarus during a period of two years starting January 1, 2013.

The Embassy of France was NATO’s CPE in Belarus in 2011 and 2012, and the Embassy of Lithuania performed the functions in the previous two years.

“The primary task of the Contact Point Embassy is to introduce the goals and activities of NATO, as well as to create and strengthen contacts in the country of residence,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said in a statement. He added that other functions of a CPE included passing on information, providing the Alliance with an overview of security policy developments in the country of residence, and organizing high-level NATO visits.

The Contact Point Embassy system was created in 1992 to support the work of the North Atlantic Co-operation Council and is one of the channels through which NATO's policies are introduced in the Alliance's partner countries.

Estonia joined NATO on March 29, 2004 together with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. //BelaPAN