Attendees included a comprehensive range of representation from across the NATO enterprise to include the International Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Land Command, Air Command, Maritime Command, NATO School Oberammergau, and the NATO Contact Point Embassy for Tunisia.

This particular event held special significance as it was the first virtual JFCNP Military Partnership Branch Expert Staff Meeting held with a partner nation.

Building and sustaining strong relationships is an essential part of the JFCNP mission. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many military cooperation activities. I am very proud of how our team and the Tunisians quickly adapted to maintain the capability to continue to build relationships and collaborate

said COL Kadir Akcakaya, Military Partner Coordination Section Head.

During this virtual exchange, participants reviewed multiple topics to strengthen the relationship between NATO and Tunisia. Areas of focus included a review of 2020 activities, current partnership goals, and education, training, exercise, and evaluation (ETEE) opportunities for 2021 and beyond.

In their remarks Senior Captain Mohammed Nasri (MoD/TUN) and Brigadier General Peter Klement (ACOS J9) both stressed that the virtual meetings are stopgap measures to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 related travel restrictions and they want to meet in person to discuss face-to-face as soon as possible.

The aim of the expert talk was to review military cooperation goals and objectives, provide information exchange, develop greater synchronized collaboration, and facilitate understanding.

Within the Mediterranean Dialogue framework, Tunisia-NATO cooperation comprises a wide range of areas to include the Defence Education Enhancement Programme, Building Integrity Programme, Operational Capability Concept Evaluation and Feedback, Defence Capacity Building, and the Interoperability platform.