Source: NATO
Today NATO and Jordan marked an important milestone in their partnership with the signature of the bilateral legal agreement for the establishment of a NATO Liaison Office (NLO) in Amman, Jordan. The agreement was signed by the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood, Javier Colomina, and the Head of Mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to NATO, H.E. Ambassador Yousef Bataineh.
The decision to open the Office, which will be the Alliance’s first diplomatic office in the Middle East, was announced in July 2024 at the NATO Summit in Washington D.C. It builds on three decades of deep-rooted bilateral relations between NATO and Jordan, and on the recent decisions taken by Allied leaders to strengthen NATO’s approach towards the southern neighbourhood. This includes increasing presence and visibility in the region in the framework of the Southern Neighbourhood Action Plan.
The NATO Liaison Office will bring NATO and Jordan even closer together, enhancing political dialogue, practical cooperation and shared understanding of the regional context. It will also contribute to the development and implementation of partnership programmes and activities, particularly in support of Jordan’s Defence Capacity Building (DCB) Initiative, among other projects.
The signature of the agreement will be followed by the upcoming opening of the NLO in Amman. This builds on a year of significant accomplishments in the NATO-Jordan partnership, including Special Representative Colomina’s visit to Amman last November, and last week’s visit of the Partnerships and Cooperative Security Committee to Jordan.