Defence Ministers to focus on capabilities, Afghanistan, Ukraine
Work to improve NATO’s defence capabilities, the ISAF mission in Afghanistan and relations with Ukraine are the main areas of focus at this week’s two-day NATO defence ministerial which starts on Thursday 21 February.
The ministerial meeting will start with a working lunch, where the defence ministers of the 28 NATO nations will discuss the Connected Forces Initiative, which was launched at the Chicago Summit in May 2012. The initiative aims to preserve and reinforce the skills of cooperation and interoperability which have built up between Allied forces over a decade of operations through a reinforced programme of exercises.
Following that, the ministers will discuss capabilities and NATO’s Defence Planning Process. The talks will be an opportunity to take stock of progress on the plans to improve Allied defence capabilities which were agreed at last year’s Chicago Summit, and to discuss the next steps. These talks will be followed by an informal dinner on broader defence issues.
On Friday 22 February, ministers will begin with a session of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, which will focus on how NATO and Ukraine can improve their defence cooperation. The meeting will be the first opportunity for the ministers to meet jointly with their new Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Lebedev.
Finally, ministers will be joined by the representatives of the 22 partner countries in ISAF, the Afghan defence minister and representatives of the European Union and United Nations, to discuss the mission in Afghanistan and the ongoing transition to Afghan security responsibility. The meeting will include a briefing from the new commander of ISAF, General Joseph Dunford, who took up his post on 10 February.