Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), General Jean-Paul Paloméros, hosted the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) Signing Ceremony for the NATO Counter Intelligence Centre of Excellence (NATO CI COE) located in Kraków, Poland. This brief ceremony was held at the Waterside Marriott Hotel in Norfolk on September 29th and formalized the relationship between NATO and the 24th NATO COE. Currently, 21 COEs are NATO accredited.
In the presence of the Deputy Minister of National Defense of Poland, Mr. Robert Kupiecki, and the Minister of Defense of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Martin Glvac, the MOU was signed between Slovakia and Poland as Framework Nations (FN) and representatives of the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia acting as Sponsoring Nations (SN).
As the primary hub of NATO expertise in military counter-intelligence, the COE aims to expand the Alliance and its member nations’ capabilities to enhance NATO counter-intelligence and improve interoperability. The Centre acts as a catalyst for NATO adaptation and operations by supporting the development, promotion, and implementation of new policies, concepts, strategies, and doctrine.
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By definition, Centres of Excellence (COEs) are international military organizations that train and educate leaders and specialists from NATO member and partner countries. They assist in doctrine development, identify lessons learned, improve interoperability and capabilities, and test and validate concepts through experimentation. They offer recognized expertise and experience that benefit the Alliance and support the transformation of NATO while avoiding the duplication of assets, resources, and capabilities already present within the Alliance.
COEs generally specialize in one functional area and act as subject-matter experts in their field. They distribute their in-depth knowledge through training, conferences, seminars, concepts, doctrine, lessons learned, and papers. COEs work alongside the Alliance even though NATO does not directly fund them, and they are not part of the NATO Command Structure. They are nationally or multi-nationally funded and are part of a supportive network, encouraging internal and external information exchange to benefit the Alliance. The overall responsibility for COE coordination and utilization within NATO lies with Allied Command Transformation (ACT), coordinated with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).