Public opening remarks by General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee

Good morning,

Madame President, Minister of Defence, ladies and gentlemen, good morning again and welcome to the NATO Chiefs of Defence and the Strategic Commanders gathered here in Split for the Military Committee Conference 2016.

Let us begin, this morning, with the tribute to our military personnel who are delivering success on NATO operations, and to remember the sacrifice of those men and women killed and wounded in the line of duty.

(Minute of Silence)

Thank you.

I will now make some introductory remarks, in the presence of media, before I ask the President of Croatia to formally open our Conference.

La conférence annuelle des chefs d’état-major de la défense des pays de l’OTAN est l’occasion de discuter librement de certaines des questions les plus difficiles auxquelles est confrontée l’Alliance. Notre capacité à mener un débat franc et ouvert tout en instaurant un consensus entre 28 - et bientôt 29 - pays, est une force et elle montre la solidarité au sein de l’Alliance.

Comme toujours lors de nos réunions, nous découvrons de nouveaux visages autour de la table. Je commencerai par l’amiral Dragan Samardžić, du Monténégro. Dragan, je suis ravi de t’accueillir ainsi que les forces armées de ton pays. Votre statut d’observateur est la dernière étape vers celui de 29^e membre de cette Alliance unique.

Je voudrais également souhaiter la bienvenue à deux nouveaux collègues : le premier venu du Royaume de Belgique, le général Marc Compernol, et le second du Royaume-Uni, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach. Marc, Stuart, tous nos vœux de réussite dans ces postes exigeants. Nous attendons avec intérêt vos idées et vos remarques et nous comptons sur vous pour enrichir notre réflexion.

Vous avez été désignés à un moment critique à la tête des forces armées de vos pays respectifs. L’environnement de sécurité évolue sans cesse; des acteurs, étatiques ou non, y exploitent chaque possibilité d’ébranler l’ordre international. C’est a nous qu’il appartient de bien comprendre ces défis de sécurité et de nous assurer que nous sommes vraiment prêts a obtenir les effets militaires stratégiques nécessaires le moment venu.

In Warsaw, our Heads of State and Government agreed a renewed emphasis on Collective Defence. So, we are re-building the full spectrum of forces and capabilities to deliver credible deterrence against any potential adversary. In addition, the Heads of State and Government reiterated that NATO must retain its ability to respond to crises beyond our borders. And NATO must continue enhancing international security through supporting partners and working with international organisations.

The Alliance now has agreed a policy for a strengthened Deterrence and Defence Posture and for Projecting Stability. It is our responsibility to develop this policy into military strategy.

This requires a coherence check of the totality of military adaptation agreed at the Wales and Warsaw Summits.

We will also discuss potential enhancements and improvements to the NATO Command Structure and NATO Force Structure prior to the normal functional assessment.

This afternoon our focus will shift to NATOs Operations, Missions and Activities. In particular we will discuss the RESOLUTE SUPPORT Mission in Afghanistan, which remains our operational main effort; KFOR and South-East Europe; as well as all of our activities in the Mediterranean will be in our focus.

In each of our sessions we will be supported by our Strategic Commanders; SACEUR, General Mike Scaparotti, and SACT, General Denis Mercier, who will provide the detailed military strategic assessments on the issues we discuss.

General Mirko undov and I will brief the media on the outcomes of our discussions this afternoon.

I think the time has now come to formally open the Conference.

Madame President, letme express our thanks to Croatia for such a warm welcome and the incredible hospitality we have experienced since our arrival.

We are extremely grateful that you, Madame President, are opening our Conference. Croatia is a steadfast member of the Alliance. Her continued participation in NATO operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and on the High Seas demonstrates Croatia

I would like to congratulate you on your countryd you the floor to address NATO Chiefs of Defence and Strategic Commanders.

(Opening Remarks President)

CMC - Thank you, Madame President.