News

The NATO Military Committee visited Skopje, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from 6-7 November 2018. The meeting was hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Radmila Shekerinska Jankovska and the Chief of the General Staff, Major General Vasko Gjurchinovski. The NATO Military Committee Deputy Chairman, Lieutenant General Steven Shepro first met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Jankovska and Chief of Defence Gjurchinovski, and then chaired a Military Committee Permanent Session where high level representatives from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia participated. The Military Committee visit concluded with a visit to Ilinden Barracks where the NATO Military Representatives watched a capability demonstration. A variety of capabilities, ranging from the defence of a high level representative in field to Special Forces storming and clearing an insurgent base, were demonstrated.

The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach visited Portugal from 1 to 4 November 2018. The trip included visits to NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre, the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, the Joint Command for Military Operations as well as meetings with the Portuguese Minister of Defence, HE João Gomes Cravinho and the Chief of Defence, Admiral António Silva Ribeiro.

On 23 October 2018, the Cooperative Security Division of the NATO International Military Staff hosted the NATO – Pakistan Military to Military staff talks. The head of the Pakistani Delegation, Lieutenant General Malik Zafar Iqbal met with the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, and the Director General of the NATO International Military Staff, Lieutenant General Jan Broeks.

The Allied Chiefs of Defence have elected Lieutenant General Hans-W. Wiermann of the German Armed Forces to be the next Director of the NATO International Military Staff (DGIMS). The DGIMS is nominated by the NATO Chiefs of Defence to head the Alliance’s International Military Staff for a term of three years. Lieutenant General Wiermann will take up the position in the summer of 2019 when Lieutenant General Jan Broeks’ tenure ends.

The NATO Military Committee met on 28-30 September 2018 in Warsaw, Poland in Chiefs of Defence format. Discussions focused on Allied operations, missions and activities, the development of NATO’s Military Strategy, Responsiveness, Reinforcement and the NATO Readiness Initiative, as well as the Alliance’s ongoing modernization.

Lieutenant General Jan Broeks, Director General of the NATO International Military Staff visited Switzerland on 29-30 August 2018. During his visit, Lieutenant General Broeks met with Major General Meier, Chief of the Swiss Armed Forces Staff. He also took the opportunity to visit the Maison de la Paix and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

From 23 to 24 August 2018, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Lieutenant General Steven Shepro was in Italy where he visited the NATO Joint Forces Command in Naples, the NATO Strategic Direction South Hub and the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force in at the Sigonella Air Base.

NATO’s highest Military Authority, the Military Committee, will meet from 28-30 September 2018, in Warsaw, Poland. The meeting will be hosted by the Chief of the Polish General Staff, Lieutenant General Rajmund Andrzejczak.

Three years after he took up his position as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel, from the Czech Republic’s Armed Forces, handed over the highest NATO military position to his successor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, former Chief of Defence Staff of the British Armed Forces.

The Chairman of the Military Committee is the senior military advisor to the Secretary General, and the conduit through which advice from NATO’s Chiefs of Defence is presented to the political body of NATO, the North Atlantic Council.