NATO’s Military Committee meets in follow-up to Lisbon Summit
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Chiefs of Defence (CHODs) and Military Representatives (MRs) of sixty-six NATO member and partner countries have concluded two days of meetings at NATO Headquarters. Chaired by Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, Chairman of the Military Committee, these high-level military meetings constituting the 164th Military Committee Meeting in CHODS format (MC/CS), is the first major official gathering of NATO’s military authorities since the November 2010 NATO Summit in Lisbon.
Also attending were NATO’s two Strategic Commanders, Admiral James Stavridis (Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Operations - SACEUR) and General Stephane Abrial (Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation – SACT), together with the Chairman of the European Union’s Military Committee, General Hakan Syren.
During the Afghanistan session, the Senior Civilian Representative, Ambassador Mark Sedwill and the ISAF Commander, General David Petraeus, gave their assessment for 2010, specifically with a view to the transition process. There was a common understanding that the moment has come to consolidate and build on achievements, ensuring that the progressive trend is irreversible. In this respect, a key priority has been set to make an urgent, additional effort to provide trainers, critical in assisting the buildup of the Afghan National Security Forces. The Military Committee’s assessment will serve as essential advice to the North Atlantic Council, in preparation for the next NATO Defence Ministerial meetings in March 2011.
With regard to Kosovo, the CHODs received an overview by SACEUR, Commander KFOR, General Erhard Buehler and the head of EULEX, Mr. Xavier Bout de Marnhac. They assessed the overall security situation as positive with regard to KFOR’s progress towards Deterrence Presence, the unfixing of the patrimonial sites, and the growing capability of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF). Contributing Nations reiterated their commitment to KFOR in meeting its mandate effectively, acknowledging that good governance and progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime will be key in determining long-term peace and stability in the region.
NATO’s current maritime operations, Ocean Shield and Active Endeavor, were also examined. The CHODs analyzed options to make these missions more effective still, adapting them to current and emerging maritime security threats, and taking into consideration the available resources.
Two sessions of the MC/CS focused on NATO Partnerships. Military representatives from both the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council agreed on the further development of Cooperative Security core task as outlined in the new Strategic Concept. They expressed their eagerness to explore options for a deeper military cooperation in order to be able to better tackle emerging security challenges such as terrorism, arms proliferation, drug trafficking, cyber attacks, energy protection and piracy.
In the session devoted to NATO military cooperation with Ukraine, CHODs discussed the current developments of Ukraine defence reforms and transformation, and provided their recommendations, based on their national experiences in defence reforms and transformation. Ukraine’s continued participation in NATO operations was again welcomed for its high value.
Several key aspects were addressed under NATO Transformation: NATO Reform, the Defence Planning Process and Capabilities Development, and specifically the operationalization of the new Strategic Concept. On the latter, CHODs explored the military contributions to the three core tasks: Collective Defense, Crisis Management and Cooperative Security, which will be essential to inform the political guidance that directs military implementation.
At the NATO-Russia Council Military Representatives meeting (NRC-MR), the 29 CHODs approved the expanded NRC Military Work Plan for 2011. This Work Plan is ambitious and far-reaching and a first tangible result of furthering military cooperation between NATO and Russia since Lisbon. The Exchange of Military Academics is particularly beneficial and will allow Russian and NATO military to share views on mutual strategic security issues with the aim of broadening their cooperation. Theatre missile defence is also a new area of cooperation.
In addition, the NRC has approved the “NATO-Russia Council Consolidated Glossary of Cooperation”. This document contains over 6000 terms and covers key areas of NATO-Russia political and military cooperation. Army General Nikolay Makarov and Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola will assume the joint and general editorship of the NRC Glossary.
Military cooperation is an important part of the further development of the relationship between NATO and Russia. The 2011 Work Plan is part of the NRC-MR Framework for NATO-Russia Military-to-Military Cooperation in which four areas of cooperation were previously agreed upon: Logistics, Combating Terrorism, Search and Rescue at Sea and Counter Piracy.
The outcome of discussions across the various Military Committee sessions will pave the way to the establishment of the ‘New NATO’, which was set as an important priority at the Lisbon Summit.