Following the NATO-Russia Council meeting with Military Representatives, Army General Nikolay E. Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, awarded Lieutenant General Jürgen Bornemann, Director General of the International Military Staff (IMS), Colonel Karl Hanevik, Chief of the Special Partnership Branch of the IMS Cooperation & Regional Security Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Van den Broeck, Staff Officer of the same Division, with the medal of the Russian Ministry of Defence "For the Strengthening of Combat Cooperation".
Army Gen. Makarov praised the NATO IMS Officers for their commitment in making NATO-Russia cooperation real. On behalf of all three Officers, Lt.Gen. Bornemann thanked the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation for this recognition, emphasizing that NATO-Russia cooperation was founded on team work – past, present and future – and that the IMS is committed to continuing its contribution to this success through building on the work of predecessors.
During the NATO-Russia Council meeting, the 29 Chiefs of Defence approved the NATO-Russia Council Work Plan for 2012 and discussed ways to deepen NATO-Russia cooperation over the following years. Today, NATO and Russia focus on six agreed areas of cooperation: Logistics, Combating Terrorism, Search and Rescue at Sea, Counter Piracy, Military Academic Exchanges and Theatre Missile Defence/ Missile Defence.
