Address

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to NATO HQ.  I’ve been asked to talk to you today about NATO Operations.  I will do so briefly in an effort to allocate as much time as possible for your questions.

The Alliance is currently involved in several ongoing missions from South-Central and Western Asia to the Balkans, to the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, to the African continent.

ISAF

Our top priority is in Afghanistan, where the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is assisting the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the establishment of a safe, secure and stable environment.  While ISAF forces are conducting security and stability operations, Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are also fully engaged in order to extend government authority and influence, thereby facilitating Afghanistan’s reconstruction and enabling the Government of Afghanistan to exercise its sovereignty throughout the country.

ISAF is currently made up of over 120,000 troops from 45 contributing nations (28 NATO and 17 non-NATO).

The Government of Afghanistan, UN Assistance Mission, ISAF and other members of the IC have agreed to follow a Comprehensive and Integrated Approach that brings together all lines of operation being pursued in AFG: Governance, Security and Reconstruction & Development.  Together with the ANSF, ISAF plays the lead role in Security and it has a supporting function in Governance and Development.

The recent change of NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan was not a change in the Alliance’s strategy, our strategy remains unchanged.  And what, exactly, is that strategy?  It’s to expand the Afghan government’s authority and control throughout the country, focusing on the needs and security of the people.  This also means taking on the Taliban in their spiritual homeland by improving security, alongside a push to improve local governance and development, while training Afghan forces to assume the eventual control of their country’s security, once the proper conditions are in place.  Governance depends on security and good Governance is critical to meeting the needs of the Afghan people and unless effective governance, including an effective judicial and penal system, is in place at both central and local levels, there can be no success in Afghanistan, even with a very effective security line of operation.  Governance remains the responsibility of the Afghan authorities, however.

The ISAF mission end state is not pre-defined or calendar-based; rather, it is conditions-based.  And, in order to achieve NATO’s success, it is critical that the Afghan National Army (ANA) continues to grow.  The Alliance is contributing to this endeavour through the NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan.  Although the ANA has been increasing in size by approximately 1,500 soldiers per month, its total strength is on track to rise to 171,600 by October 2011.

While the security situation in Afghanistan remains serious, progress is being made.  Such progress is evident in the construction of roads, the provision of potable water, improved access to health care, the growing presence of children in schools and the admission of females to educational institutions.  It is this sort of development that will help bring lasting security to the country.

Other factors that will contribute to lasting security include:

• Regional approach; relationship with Pakistan
• Transition status
• Kabul Conference
• Elections

KFOR

Switching to Kosovo; since June of 1999, the NATO-led military presence there has been contributing to a secure environment for the safe return of all displaced persons and refugees, and has helped create the conditions for a final settlement.  There are currently over 9,000 troops supporting this mission from 20 NATO and 8 non-NATO contributing nations.

Weak socio-economic conditions prevail throughout Kosovo; however the challenges in the North are particularly acute with the concentration of the Kosovo-Serb population establishing ‘parallel structures’ of governance and local authority.  The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is expected to deliver an advisory opinion sometime this year on Kosovo’s declaration of independence.

Part of KFOR’s current mandate calls for the training of the Kosovo Security Force, which, at full strength, should reach 2,500 active and 800 reserve members.  It currently has over 1,800 members. 

Another task of the Alliance is to guard selected patrimonial sites with special protected status.  Responsibility for the protection of one of the nine sites has already been turned over to the Kosovo Security Force but the remaining eight sites, all of which are monasteries, are far more sensitive and each closure will require NAC approval.

On 31 January of this year, KFOR achieved the so-called Gate One in its transition towards a posture of deterrent presence.  The move to transition Gates Two and Three have no fixed dates and will entirely depend on the development of the situation.  In regards to security issues, the Kosovo Police, EULEX and KFOR are acting, respectively, as first, second and third responders.

Balkans (other than Kosovo)

Furthermore, NATO conducts advisory functions elsewhere in the Balkans.  Namely in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), and in Belgrade, Serbia.  The Alliance also supports EUFOR operations in BiH and our presence in Tirana, Albania will close down this summer.

Operation OCEAN SHIELD (OOS)

Another of NATO’s operations, whose mandate was extended through 2012, is called Ocean Shield.  Here, our forces have a mission to deter and disrupt piracy off the coast of Somalia, and offer assistance to regional states that request it, in developing their own capacity to combat piracy.  The force is comprised of a mixture of NATO’s Standing Naval Maritime Groups, national Maritime Patrol Aircraft, and transiting military vessels and the Joint Operations Area has the size of Europe including the Mediterranean Sea.

NATO’s force of three to five vessels spend more time at sea than most other players in the region, however, successful patrolling of the international community’s warships in the Gulf of Aden has increased piracy in the Somali Basin with pirates now operating up to 1800 km from shore.  In addition to NATO, there are other forces present in the International Transit Corridor, to include the EU and a Coalition Maritime forces-group, and vessels from China, Russia, Japan, India, Saudi Arabian, Pakistan and Iran.  Coordination is conducted at tactical level via monthly meetings in Bahrain.

Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR (OAE)

The Alliance also carries out Operation Active Endeavour, where the mission is to conduct maritime operations to demonstrate NATO’s resolve in helping to deter, defend, disrupt and protect against terrorism.
This operation has had a positive impact in deterring smuggling and illicit activities in the Mediterranean Sea and we are now shifting from a platform- to a network-based operation using a combination of on-call units and surge operations instead of deployed forces.  NATO has also increased its cooperation with non-NATO contributing nations and international organizations to enhance Maritime Situational Awareness.

NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I)

Another mission that the Alliance has been involved with since August 2004 is to provide training and assistance to the Iraqi Security Forces in order to contribute to the development of Iraqi training structures and institutions, with an aim of building effective and sustainable, multi-ethnic security forces.  At present, 180 personnel from 13 NATO and 1 non-NATO country (Ukraine) are conducting 13 different courses.  The Alliance has successfully trained over 14,500 Iraqi Security Forces so far, consisting of 6,500 Iraqi military personnel and over 8,000 Iraqi Federal Police Officers.  NATO also provides out of country training opportunities to military and civilian personnel from the various agencies within the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office, training more than 1,540 people to date. 

Support to African Union (AU)

Lastly, NATO supports the African Union (AU) by maintaining a Military Team from JFC Lisbon permanently deployed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to assist the AU’s military staff and the current AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).  The Alliance has also agreed to provide strategic airlift and maritime lift support to AMISOM on a case by case basis through January 2011, although it is conditional on NATO nations’ willingness and ability to provide such assets.

I hope that this brief overview has given you a better understanding of NATO’s current operations and I will now field any questions that you may have.