Press Releases
26. 11. 200814:02
Premier Mirek Topolánek Today Received Director of NATO Office of Security Michael T. Evanoff
Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek today met in Prague´s Straka Academy the visiting Director of the NATO Office of Security - NOS, Michael T. Evanoff.
They discussed the subject of sharing classified information, cooperation with non-members of the Alliance and other security matters. According to the Czech Prime Minister and the NOS Director, NATO’s involvement in foreign peace-keeping missions (KFOR in Kosovo, ISAF in Afghanistan) calls for the need of promoting cooperation between NATO, non-member states, international and non-governmental organizations. The closer this cooperation, the more important is the mutual necessity of sharing classified information. In a bid to facilitate such cooperation and to raise the efficiency of NATO missions it is vital to prepare new and more flexible rules for the protection of NATO classified information.
These are also expected to help the Czech units participating in the NATO-led military operations. Michael Evanoff, Director of the NATO Office of Security, also briefed the Czech Premier in detail on some of the current security issues facing NATO, and explained his own vision of reforming the NATO Office of Security. M. T. Evanoff has arrived in the Czech Republic at the invitation of Mr. Dušan Navrátil, Director of the Czech National Security Office. Since assuming his post of the Director of the NATO Office of Security in 2007, M. Evanoff has paid similar visits to other NATO member states. This is his first visit to the Czech Republic in his new capacity.
Jana Bartošová, press spokesperson of the Government of the Czech Republic
Additional information: Michael T. Evanoff has served for 23 years in the Security Service of the US State Department. Before taking up the post of the Director of the NATO Office of Security (NOS) in December 2007 he worked as security chief for the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. As the chief goal as the NOS Director he has set himself the task to strengthen protection against new security threats. NOS is a civilian authority of NATO responsible both for the protection of classified information within NATO and for the immediate physical protection of NATO objects (e.g. NATO headquarters in Brussels).