The United States of America has become the eleventh sponsoring nation of the NATO Counter Intelligence Center of Excellence.
In July 2019, the US formally joined the Center when its Notes of Joining were signed by representatives of the 10 existing member nations and the Chief of Staff, NATO Allied Command Transformation. One month later, the first American arrived to join the NATO CICOE staff. The official raising of the American flag took place at a formal ceremony on September 30, 2019.
All NATO member states are eligible to join the NATO Counter Intelligence Center of Excellence as sponsoring nations, which allows the Center to expand international involvement in its activities. The structure provides positions both for the framework countries, which are Poland and Slovakia, as well as for other partners from among NATO countries. Previously, the team of experts consisted of specialists from ten countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and Italy. Now the Center has welcomed an eleventh partner “on board.”
Countries interested in joining the NATO CI COE are actively involved in its activities through participation in the offered projects, and provide subject matter experts and other substantive support during courses and training. The United States and France had participated as observer nations since the Center’s beginning, but now the United States has become a sponsor nation.