NATO's New HUMINT Center in Romania

Inauguration of NATO HUMINT Centre in Oradea
Date: 17-03-2010
Posted: http://www.actmedia.eu/2010/03/17/top+story/inauguration+of+nato+humint+centre+in+oradea/26263

Romania's President Traian Basescu on Tuesday told the opening ceremony in the western city of Oradea of a HUMINT human intelligence Excellence Centre that the emergence of this institution will significantly contribute toward the development of the operational capabilities and the grounding of the NATO policy in the area of human intelligence gathering.

Basescu said the establishment of the centre is supporting the process of transformation which the Alliance has pledged to carry through, a process that is deemed vital to its adjusting to the new security threats, which, given the complex and modern profile of it, is generating real interest among the future beneficiaries, that is the NATO structures and the allies.

'I want to voice satisfaction over the fact that during all this time Romania has enjoyed the partnership of Greece, Hungary, Slovenia and Turkey. They will be joined in by the US and Slovakia, both countries where internal procedures for accession are at a final stage now. The contribution of all these allies underscores the world profile and the idea of joint efforts being put to the service of achieving the NATO's objectives,' the President said.

President Basescu on Tuesday cut the ribbon to the NATO HUMINT Centre of Excellence, an elite institution dealing with training NATO intelligence and counterintelligence officers. Also attending the opening ceremony were Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea; Chief of the Romanian Army Staff Gheorghe Marin and officials of the sponsor countries - Greece, Slovenia, Turkey and Hungary - all of which have contributed toward the opening of the centre.

The NATO Excellence Centre in Oradea has 80 military staff, 16 of whom come from the four sponsor nations. They are expected to move in to Oradea with their family in the near future. The centre will offer various courses of between five and 3-4 weeks , according to the educational models to be adopted by the Alliance. Commander Simion mentioned that the number of the non-commissioned and commissioned officers that will attend the training courses in Oradea will run into hundreds and even thousands in one year.

The main mission of the centre in Oradea is to provide a one-stop reference point that will take care of the trainingtg, policy making and standardisation of the intelligence expertise of NATO and help the Alliance prefigure the future developments in its HUMINT capabilities.

Besides Romania, which is a founding country, Greece, Slovenia, Turkey and Hungary have signed a memorandum of understanding with Romania, will provide its own staff to the centre until mid-year. Two more nations, the US and Slovakia, are expected to sign the documents that will allow them to join the project as soon as possible.

The centre was accredited this February by a NATO board. The establishment of the HUMINT&CI Centre in Oradea was unanimously approved by the Romanian Parliament at a plenary session of its two chambers in June 2008.There are currently 18 NATO centres of excellence, five of which are now undergoing accreditation.Sphere: Related Content