Opening remarks
by General Knud Bartels, Chairman of the Military Committee at the press conference following the NATO Military Committee Conference, Budapest
Good evening and welcome to the NATO Military Committee Conference 2013 press conference. This is a unique opportunity for NATO’s Chiefs of Defence to gather outside Brussels to discuss key security issues concerning the Alliance, and I am grateful to General Benkő and Hungary for hosting this meeting. Let me use this opportunity on behalf of the Alliance to express the value we attach to your country’s strong support.
I will now highlight the key points of our discussions.
First, we reached a common understanding of the security situation in the Middle East and North Africa, including Syria. As you know, last year NATO decided to augment Turkey’s air defence capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey and contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the Alliance’s border. We agreed to do so within the framework of the NATO integrated air defence system and in accordance with the NATO standing defence plan. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, because our ultimate task is the protection and defence of our members.
In the following session, we reviewed NATO’s current operations starting with Afghanistan. We agreed with COMISAF’s positive assessment of the Afghan National Security Forces capabilities. For the first time, the Afghan forces are in the lead for security across the country. They are planning and conducting complex operations throughout the country. That is a major challenge – and they are rising to this challenge every day.
NATO Chiefs of Defence expressed their commitment to continue to support the Afghan forces once our ISAF operation is over by training, advising and assisting them to build on the progress we have made so far together. A number of decisions related to Resolute Support are still outstanding but we made further progress towards finalizing our military advice.
In the KFOR session, NATO Chiefs of Defence discussed the progress made in terms of security and stability. We have seen progress in the ability of the local institutions to take responsibility for law and order. But there is still work to do, and KFOR will continue to stay vigilant and ensure a safe and secure environment for all people there. Our intention is to gradually reduce the size of KFOR when conditions allow. Any further decision will be taken based on real improvements on the ground.
In our session dedicated to NATO transformation, Chiefs of Defence were updated on the positive developments in Smart Defence, the Connected Forces Initiative and the future exercise programme, in preparation for the next Defence Ministerial meeting.
The Smart Defence Initiative reflects Alliance solidarity, building upon multinational approaches and innovative solutions to capability delivery and sustainment. NATO Chiefs of Defence acknowledged the first concrete deliverables from this initiative and expressed their commitment to support efforts to develop multinational projects, promoting a new mind-set and help building a long-term commitment.
NATO Chiefs of Defence also provided their guidance to the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Jean-Paul Paloméros, for further work on implementing the Connected Forces Initiative.
Also related to transformation, we gave our strong support to Exercise Trident Juncture, a large scale exercise to be conducted in 2015, which will mark NATO’s shift of focus from operations to operational readiness. This exercise represents an invaluable opportunity to test NATO Command and Force Structures with the NATO Response Force at the heart of the exercise. In looking to the future, NATO Chiefs of Defence were clear that the upcoming exercise programme should support and demonstrate both the capability and the relevance of the Alliance.
In our last session, we discussed the ongoing internal review of NATO’s Military Structure, with specific focus on the International Military Staff of NATO Headquarters.
Finally, I would like to announce that Lithuania has offered to host the next Military Committee Conference, which will take place in September 2014 in Vilnius. So my special thanks go to Lithuania for its support to the Military Committee and to this Alliance.
In conclusion, it has been a very successful meeting and we look forward to present the fruits of our discussions to NATO Defence Ministers next month.
With this, I will now pass the floor to General Benkő but let me use once again this opportunity to express my thanks to the General and for Hungary for hosting us during this meeting.
Thank you.