Meeting of Defence Ministers

GENERAL

1. Meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the level of Defence Ministers will be held at the NATO Headquarters on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 February 2020. All information about these meetings will be on the NATO website. This media advisory marks the opening of online registration for accreditation (see below).
2. The meetings will be chaired by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.

PROGRAMME

3. The media programme will be available online closer to the event and provided to media representatives in the media centre. The meetings will start on Wednesday 12 February 2020 in the afternoon and will end on Thursday 13 February early afternoon. Pre-ministerial events (e.g. Secretary General’s pre-ministerial press conference) will take place on Tuesday 11 February 2020; more details will be announced at a later date.
4. Media representatives not permanently accredited with NATO need to seek accreditation (detailed procedure outlined below).
5. The Accreditation Office, where badges can be picked up, will be located at the Main Entrance, NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III 1110. The opening hours are further below.
6. Information about individual ministers’ media programmes should be sought directly from the national delegation(s) concerned. A list of NATO delegation press officers is available from the Press & Media Section and upon accreditation.

MEDIA ACCESS AND POOLS

7. Access is unrestricted to press conferences of the NATO Secretary General. Briefings by delegation officials may be by invitation only. Open delegation events are announced on CCTV.
8. Access to meeting openings and the official portrait is restricted by pool only. Pool cards will be given to a small number of videographers and photographers drawn from among those who submit an accreditation request on time.  The pool cards will be distributed on the first floor of the Public Square of NATO HQ. More details about timings will be provided in the media programme. Journalists requesting late accreditation will not be given access to pools.
9. Audiovisual media representatives who wish to cover the opening remarks from inside the Council room may make a written request for a pool card to the e-mail address given at the end of this advisory. No confirmation will be sent.
10. When a media representative accepts a NATO pool position he/she must share immediately all information and material collected while in the pool with any accredited media that request it. The media representative in the pool will share the material at no charge and with no restriction on the use of the material for news purposes.
11. Media representatives can only accept the pool accreditation if they have the agreement of their employer to all of the conditions on providing pool material listed above.
12. Media organisations that want pooled images should first contact the wire service / photo agency of which they are a member / client. Media representatives and news organisations must identify that it is pooled material every time it is used. Pooled material can only be used for legitimate news purposes and it cannot be sold.
13. The NATO photographers and videographers will provide video clips and photos of all the media events for posting to the NATO website; photos can be downloaded from www.nato.int.

ONLINE / BROADCAST

14. The opening remarks of several NATO meetings as well as the Secretary General’s press conference(s) will be broadcast live on the internal closed-circuit television system and can be viewed in the press working area as well as online, on the NATO website (www.nato.int).
15. B-roll and press conference videos can be downloaded live via satellite or from the NATO TV & Radio Unit (see the contact details below). After each event, the videos are available for free download from NATO Multimedia.

ACCREDITATION AND SECURITY CHECKS

16. Journalists in possession of a NATO annual media pass (2020) do not need to request accreditation.
17. Journalists not in possession of a NATO annual media pass (2020) need to request ad-hoc accreditation . Please find instructions on how to apply for ad-hoc accreditation or create a profile in Annex 1.
18. Media representatives who have successfully been accredited will receive confirmation by email. Media representatives are encouraged to bring a printout of the confirmation email when collecting their badge.
19. The deadline for ad-hoc accreditation requests is no later than Tuesday 4 February 2020 at 23:59 (Brussels Time).
20. Requests entered after the deadline are considered late, will be strictly limited, and may be unsuccessful. In accordance with NATO media accreditation procedures, NATO reserves the right to deny or withdraw accreditation of media representatives from media organisations who abuse their privileges, put the accreditation to improper use or act in a way not consistent with the principles of the organisation. Late applications will not be taken into consideration for pool access.
21. Media passes must be collected in person upon presentation of an ID card or passport and a valid national press pass (or accreditation letter from a recognised media organisation) at the Main Entrance, NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III 1110.
22. The same NATO accreditation procedures shall apply for media wishing to cover both the ministerial and pre-ministerial events (on Tuesday 11 February 2020). They are detailed here.
23. Passes must be visible at all times. Security personnel may ask to see another form of ID. Media representatives are advised to arrive with sufficient lead time to clear security checks. Security personnel will examine and may test equipment and personal effects carried onto the site.

MEDIA FACILITIES

24. Television and Radio editing spaces will be made available. They will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, upon request by email to the NATO TV & Radio Unit (see contact details below). 
25. NATO also makes available one TV and one radio studio when they are not in use by senior NATO officials. These facilities are usually booked via delegations’ press officers wishing to accept interview requests from media organisations.
26. A press area with working spaces will be set up on the first floor of the public square area. Electricity sockets, Wi-Fi internet, and telephones will be available. In addition, the permanent filing centre is also available on the first floor of the Public Square, facing the Agora.
27. Working spaces cannot be booked in advance but are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

OPENING HOURS

PARKING

28. Media representatives will not be allowed to park their vehicles inside the NATO compound. They may, however, park in the visitor’s car park of the NATO HQ, or in the car park directly across the Main Entrance, at the Z entrance parking of the former NATO HQ. Uplink vans may park in a special section of the car park upon request to the NATO TV & Radio Unit.

CONTACT POINTS