The opening ceremony of the NATO HUMINT Centre of Excellence took place on Tuesday, March 16, in Oradea with the participation of the President of Romania, Mr. Traian Basescu, Minister of National Defence, Mr. Gabriel Oprea and Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Gheorghe Marin. The event was also attended by ambassadors and military attaches to Romania, representatives of intelligence services from the sponsor nations and from other NATO centres of excellence, leading generals and officers from MoND and local public administration agents.

NATO Allied Transformation Command (ACT), the institution responsible for the Centre’s coordination, was represented in this event by the Deputy Commander, Admiral Luciano Zappata.

After the opening remarks, delivered by Director of the NATO HUMINT COE, the Colours of NATO, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia Turkey and Romania were hoisted and then the national representatives as well as Admiral Luciano Zappata and President Traian Basescu passed their speech.

The next moments in the ceremony was a symbolic seeding of an oak by President Basescu and Admiral Luciano Zappata, cutting the inauguration ribbon of the building that hosts the HQ and touring the education, training and recreation facilities.

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NATO HUMINT COE will provide a single point for NATO to level training coalition deployments, develop and propose for validation standardized policies and procedures for the employment and rules of engagement.
The Mission of the NATO HUMINT COE is to promote transformation within the Alliance in the specific area of expertise by supporting development, promotion, implementation of new policies, concepts, strategies to improve operational capabilities and ultimately to achieve interoperability.
Setting the NATO HUMINT COE in Romania means a new opportunity for increasing the visibility and self-assertion of our country within NATO.

MoND Press Office