NATO opens its first diplomatic delegation in an Arab country in Jordan
- Strengthening collaboration with nations beyond the southern flank
- Including the Southern Neighbourhood on the Alliance's agenda
The Atlantic Alliance has a strong strategic partnership with Jordan, to the extent that ‘next September it will open a Liaison Office in Amman’, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom, has confirmed NATO's Director of Security Policy, Spain's Carmen Romero, at a forum organised by the Institute for International Affairs and Foreign Policy (INCIPE) to review the Hague summit and NATO's commitment to collective security.
The first official delegation that the Alliance has established in an Arab nation and in the Middle East, the bilateral agreement to establish what is officially called a ‘NATO Liaison Office’ in the Jordanian capital was signed on 12 June, a month and a half before the summit of the 32 heads of state and government of the defence organisation in The Hague, Netherlands.
The document was signed at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels by the head of the Jordanian Mission to NATO, Ambassador Yousef Bataineh, and the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood, Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina, who was appointed to the new post a year ago by the then Secretary General, Norway's Jens Stoltenberg.
With three decades of relations with Jordan that NATO describes as ‘excellent’, the opening of a diplomatic mission in Amman is ‘a key priority for the Allies’. Its activation in a few weeks' time aims to ‘further strengthen ties’ with the Hashemite Kingdom, to ‘promote bilateral political dialogue’ at a time of high tension in the area due to the bloody conflict in Gaza, as well as to ‘increase the Alliance's presence and visibility in the region’, the Alliance emphasises.
Strengthening collaboration with nations beyond the southern flank
One area of activity that the allies intend to strengthen is cooperation to develop programmes to improve the defence capabilities of the Jordanian Armed Forces, particularly in the fight against terrorism. Jordan is a ‘pioneer in cooperation with NATO in the fight against terrorism,’ with a Military Centre for Counter-Terrorism and Extremism under the authority of the Chief of the Joint Staff, Major General Yousef Ahmed Al-Hnaity.
The initiative to establish a diplomatic representation in Amman is part of NATO's strategy to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation with what it calls the ‘Southern Neighbourhood’. The aim is to strengthen relations with the countries belonging to the so-called Mediterranean Dialogue – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia – and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The opening of a NATO headquarters in Jordan has been in the works since the Washington summit in July 2024, where the 32 leaders of the Alliance agreed to take a ‘more robust, strategic and results-oriented’ approach towards their partners in the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel. The terms of the agreement were finalised during Colomina's first trip to Amman in early November 2024 in his capacity as head of the Southern Neighbourhood and personal representative of the new Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
In his talks with the secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the director general of intelligence, Javier Colomina told them that Jordan is ‘one of NATO's strongest partners and a key player in the region and beyond’. And in his meeting with King Abdullah II's political adviser, the diplomat acknowledged the importance of the ‘king's tireless diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation of the war in Gaza and the Middle East’.
Including the Southern Neighbourhood on the Alliance's agenda
As a result of these talks, King Abdullah II participated in December 2024 for the first time in a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, where they discussed the situation in the Middle East and the importance of NATO increasing its cooperation with its partners in the region ‘to promote greater security and stability’ in a geographical area that is a powder keg.
More recently, at the end of May, on the initiative of Colomina and her team, in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first NATO Senior Officials Security Dialogue for the Southern Neighbourhood was held at NATO Joint Force Command Headquarters in Naples, attended by more than 50 participants, including representatives of the African Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the League of Arab States.
With contributions from all participants, the initiative served to discuss security developments and challenges in the region and exchange views on cooperation priorities. In particular, it allowed NATO and the Southern Neighbourhood nations to define an agenda to ensure that the Southern Neighbourhood is ‘systematically included in the Alliance's agenda’, emphasised Javier Colomina.
The meeting identified priority areas for cooperation in shared interests, such as training and education in mine clearance, cyber defence, maritime security, combating cyber threats, scientific cooperation, small arms control, the effects of climate change and, of course, improvements in border security and the fight against terrorism.