ISTANBUL - Heads of state and government of the NATO nations decided to reinforce the NATO supervision units in the Mediterranean after they took several new steps in fight against terrorism at the Istanbul summit.
Marine traffic in the Mediterranean, ships and their cargo have been supervised under fight against terrorism and in line with the NATO operation Active Endeavor that was initiated on October 6, 2001 in the Mediterranean shortly after the September 11 events.
The permanent naval units of the Alliance have been patrolling in the Mediterranean Sea and they stop and search suspicious vessels.
Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries and several countries which cooperate with the Alliance under the ''Mediterranean Dialogue'' have been contributing to this operation since last March.
Those operations are conducted by the NATO Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe (NAVSOUTH) in Naples, Italy. Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, United States and Britain are among the participating nations in the Mediterranean units where nearly 2,700 military personnel are deployed.
Heads of state and government decided to ''increase allied countries' contribution to operation Active Endeavor'' at the Istanbul Summit.
Leaders also shed green light on positive response to proposals for participation of Russia and Ukraine in those operations.
(MS-AÖ) 28.06.2004