Video background briefing

Hello, this is the latest in our regular series of video updates of what's happening here at NATO Headquarters. It's taking place today in the studio where the Secretary General gives his interviews, and where ambassadors come to give their interviews as well.

It has been a very active month for us and it will be an active month coming up as well, so let me quickly turn now to the main elements of our agenda.

Let me begin with Iraq. It is certainly an issue that dominates the world's headlines, and it has dominated much of the work here at NATO in the past few weeks. It will certainly be on our agenda for the coming weeks, months, and maybe even years.

The NATO ambassadors have agreed on the further implementation of the direction given to them by heads of state and government in Istanbul, to enhance and expand the Training Implementation Mission that is currently in Iraq. NATO troops, NATO personnel are now in Iraq already providing training and mentoring to senior level Iraqi security forces.

Ambassadors have agreed now and given political direction to the military to carry forward the enhancement of this support. And that should take three or four different directions.

One is that the mentoring and training that's already taking place should continue and be enhanced. NATO will also play a role in assisting in the equipping and technical assistance that will be provided to the security forces of Iraq.

NATO will also set up in Iraq a NATO-led, NATO-supported Iraqi training facility. Basically what we would call a Centre of Excellence, where Iraqi officials, senior officials in uniform, and defence officials, will be provided training by the Alliance.

NATO will also help to coordinate training provided by other nations, NATO nations, on a bilateral basis, both inside and outside of Iraq, to ensure that we complement each other, de-conflict and make sure that we add value as an Alliance to training and supporting the development of Iraqi security forces.

The aim of all of this is to help the government of Iraq to provide for its own security.

This will not be an offensive combat operation. This is a training mission. But of course, robust defence for NATO personnel deployed to Iraq is essential. That is one reason why the NATO training mission will have a very close relationship with the multinational force that is currently in Iraq.

Major General Petraeus, who now leads the multinational forces training efforts, will also lead under a dual hat, as we call it, the NATO Training Implementation Mission, and where it relates to training issues led by NATO he will report up the NATO chain of command to the North Atlantic Council and the North Atlantic Council will provide, as usual, political guidance and oversight at every stage of the process of a NATO mission.

Of course, force protection will be provided both by the multinational force, which will assure a secure environment, and close area protection, force protection, will be provided by NATO and directed by the military, the NATO military authorities.

Once again, this is a training mission, not a combat mission. It will be distinct from the multinational forces operations in Iraq. And its aim is to, as quickly a possible, help Iraq, the government of Iraq, provide for the security of its own people by developing security institutions of that newly-sovereign country.

The next steps to come are very clear. Now that the political guidance has been given by the ambassadors, military authorities will draft the concept of operations and the rules of engagement, including, of course, for force protection. Funding arrangements will be determined according to existing NATO procedures, including where that relates to common funding. These will be, of course, approved by the North Atlantic Council, and we will move as quickly as possible as an Alliance to further implement this direction given to us by Heads of State and Government.

The Secretary General and all the NATO allies are convinced of the urgency of this operation, of this mission. This is urgency that was expressed to Allies by the president of Iraq, by the prime minister of Iraq, by the foreign minister of Iraq, all of whom have been in touch with the Alliance.

And so the Alliance will move as quickly as possible to get this next stage up and running. And we hope to do that certainly before the end of the year.

Let me turn now to Afghanistan. The Alliance has committed to support the election process that will take place in early October, around October 9th for the presidential elections in Afghanistan.

We have met that commitment. There are significant assets, either deployed or being deployed into Afghanistan, into the region, to support the electoral process. All of these assets and capabilities will be in place by October 1st. Many, as I say, will be in place before then.

These include a Spanish battalion based in Mazar-e-Sharif; an Italian battalion based in Kabul; the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, of which by October 1st there will be five under NATO command in the North, will also be enlarged. There will be a U.S.-led quick reaction force, a company, deployed into Afghanistan, into Kabul. And an over-the-horizon battalion, also U.S., will be watching and ready and on very short notice to move to deploy in in case things go wrong.

This is a significant amount of assets. I might also include six Harrier jets deployed by the United Kingdom; six F-16s sent by the Netherlands; five, soon to be six, Apache helicopters send by the Netherlands; and a collection also of transport aircraft, including C-130s, both into Afghanistan and in the region.

This is a significant, robust commitment by NATO to support the electoral process. And we are pleased that we were able to meet our commitments to the Afghan government and to the Afghan people. This is an election that is going forward, probably better than most could have dared to predict one year ago, with very, very high levels of voter registration, a significant percentage of that being women, and a deep commitment on the part of the Afghan people to participate in a democratic process.

So NATO will play its full part in supporting this process.

But we are also looking forward beyond these elections, because there will be parliamentary elections and local elections taking place next spring. Allies have committed to support this process, and they are looking forward now to what support they will provide. Again, once the spring elections are due.

NATO is also looking at what we call Stage II. In the plan that has been put forward by NATO's military authorities Stage I, to the north was the area to which the allies would expand and take Provincial Reconstruction Teams under NATO command, under ISAF command for the election period. That has been done. We are now looking west. That is the next stage in the operational plan that has been submitted by the military authorities. That is the stage at which allies are now looking to see how NATO can continue to enhance and expand its support to this growing Afghan democracy that will soon, we all hope and anticipate, take its place amongst the peaceful and peacemaking countries of the world.

Staying with the theme of operations, let me turn quickly to Kosovo. There are very important elections taking place in Kosovo in October, and NATO will play its role through KFOR in helping to ensure a safe and secure environment.

The Alliance will deploy 2000 extra troops into Kosovo during the election period. They will, of course, demonstrate NATO's resolve that these elections should take place in a peaceful way.

But of course, the final solutions for Kosovo, in terms of finding political solutions for the unresolved remaining questions still need to be addressed. These will be addressed first and foremost by the UN mission in Kosovo and by the contract group. NATO will play its part, as part of these political discussions, including through the contact group.

The final political solutions, of course, don't rest with us, but NATO will play its full part, militarily and politically, in trying to bring lasting peace and security to Kosovo.

We are also looking forward, of course, to the end of the year in Bosnia and Herzegovina where NATO will successfully bring to an end the nine years that began with NATO's air campaign that brought the war to an end, or helped to bring the war to an end, through IFOR, the Implementation Force, that implemented the Dayton Peace Accords, to SFOR which has been there for many years now helping to keep the peace, as we have discussed in previous briefings, NATO's mission will be significantly downsized and the bulk of security arrangements will be handed over to the European Union, which will begin its own mission in the new year called Althea.

NATO will retain a presence there; a headquarters that will have significant roles to play in assisting in defence reform, and continuing to support the apprehension of those indicted for war crimes by the international tribunal. So NATO will stay. NATO will continue to support the European Union. NATO will continue to have its own roles as well, but certainly we will be looking forward to the end of the year to mark what has been, for this Alliance, and we believe for Bosnia and Herzegovina a great success, of nine years of NATO's robust presence there helping to first, bring the peace, and then keep the peace for such a long period.

Let me turn now to NATO's transformation. Of course transformation is a never-ending story here at NATO and it must be so because the security environment is changing rapidly, the security requirements on NATO are changing very, very quickly, as of course our new operations demonstrate. And NATO has to adapt internally.

This will be one of the main areas of discussions in the middle of next month in Romania where NATO's defence ministers will meet informally. By informally, I mean they will not take any concrete decisions, but simply have very open discussions on key security issues. And the first key security issue they will discuss, of course, will be NATO's transformation. They will take stock of how far they have come, how far NATO Allies have come, and NATO as an organization has come, to transform our forces and the way we do business for modern operations. And they will take a hard look at the way in which we plan for operations, the way in which we fund operations, to help to ensure that the NATO Secretary General and allies have the forces they need when commitments are made to take on operations, so that we can meet those commitments wherever they are as quickly as possible and in an assured manner. This will be a very open and frank closed door discussion on NATO's transformation.

Defence ministers will then turn to an equally open and equally frank discussion behind closed doors of NATO's operations. To look at the future of the operation in Kosovo. To look at the future of the operation in Afghanistan. As I mentioned, looking to the spring, but even beyond to see where the Alliance wants to go, in cooperation with Operation Enduring Freedom, that is the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, but also with our other international partners.

That, in essence, is what's on NATO's plate for the coming weeks. It is, as I've said, a very full plate. It will address, of course, key operational issues in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the Balkans. It will look forward to NATO's future, not only in operational theatres, but in terms of NATO's transformation, and it will set the stage for the discussions at the end of the year at our formal ministerial meetings here.