The 4th South Caucasus Clearing House (SCCH) gathered in Sofia today to address issues concerning defence related assistance to the South Caucasus countries.
In addition to the South Caucasus countries (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia) eleven NATO member states and Switzerland participate in the three-day meeting.
The aim of the SCCH is to co-ordinate defence assistance programmes to the South Caucasus countries.
At present 16 countries and organisations take part in the activities of the SCCH. The SCCH aims at disseminating information between donor countries and creating a joint forum for co-ordination of future projects and preventing duplication of effort. This year (2005) Estonia is the presiding country of the SCCH.
The Chairman of the SCCH is Mr. Harry Lahtein, Defence Adviser to the Estonian Ministry of Defence. The Estonian Ministry of Defence is represented by Mr. Mikk Marran, Director of the International Co-operation Department, and Ms. Eve Vungo, Head of the International Relations Section, International Co-operation Department.
NATO is represented by a high-level delegation at the meeting.