Informal Visit of NATO IS and ENSEC CoE Staff to support the setting–up of a PTEC in Azerbaijan

On November 19 and 20, 2013, NATO staff team comprising Ms. Amanda Sellers (Staff Officer, NATO Political Affairs Division), Mr. Michael Rühle (Head, Energy Security, NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division), and Major Remigijus Zilinskas (NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence) visited Baku for informal talks on the modalities of setting up Azerbaijan's first Partnership Training and Education Centre (PTEC).  

The Azerbaijani team was composed of representatives from different ministries, which underlined the broad support for this initiative.

LTC Atamali Shabazov from the Partnership for Peace Centre gave the NATO team a tour of the facilities of the centre where the courses on energy security could be held.  The main goal of the PTEC was to organise a one week international multi-level course that would be offered twice a year from 2015 onwards.

The Azerbaijani side expressed its interest in developing a course on Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection (CEIP) and proposed to share their experience in this field as well as in niche areas such as regional cooperation, public-private partnerships, civ-mil and interagency cooperation. In addition, the Centre could add value as the first to offer courses open to a wider NATO and partner audience. The NATO staff team provided recommendations on how to build a successful PTEC, and suggested to establish close contacts with the Department Head (ENSEC COE) and the designated NATO Requirement Authority (IS ESCD) in order to keep abreast of NATO’s energy security requirements. In addition, the work on the future PTEC should be integrated into the partnership planning process in order for the staff to benefit from NATO courses and other activities that would enhance their approach to training, as well as building a framework for future formal cooperation with NATO ENSEC COE.