Statement

It is a great pleasure for me to announce today that Allies have approved the appointment of General John Allen, currently our commander in Afghanistan, as the new Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, following the nomination by President Obama and of course pending confirmation by the United States Senate.

General Allen is doing an outstanding job in Afghanistan. I have been impressed by his leadership, determination, and commitment. And, if confirmed, I look very much forward to working with him even more closely once he takes on his new role in the spring.  And until then, I will continue to rely - as ever - on Admiral Jim Stavridis, who continues to excel as our Supreme Allied Commander.

And, if confirmed by the Senate, I also look forward to working with General Dunford of the United States Marine Corps who is being nominated to take over command in Afghanistan.

This is a critical time in our mission.  The transition of security responsibility to the Afghan forces is progressing according to the timeline we have agreed.  We are on track to complete it by the end of 2014, when our combat mission will come to an end.   We must ensure we keep up the momentum of transition  and continue to build professional and strong Afghan security forces capable of securing their own country. 

I am certain that General Dunford will take on those challenges with great skill  and energy. And I am sure we will work closely together to build on the hard-fought gains we have made.

And with that, I would now like to hand over the floor to SACEUR.