Inauguration of new military headquarters

The new NATO Joint Headquarters Southwest (JHQ Southwest), Madrid, officially opened on 30 September. NATO Secretary General, Dr Javier Solana, attended the inaugural ceremony. He was received by His Majesty the King of Spain and also held meetings with the President of the Government, Mr José María Aznar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Abel Matutes, and the Minister of Defence, Mr Eduardo Serra.

The activation of the headquarters marks Spain's decision to join NATO's integrated military structure. JHQ Southwest will be directly subordinated to the regional headquarters Allied Forces Southern Europe. The move forms part of the reorganisation of NATO's Command Structure that will reduce the number of headquarters from 65 to 20 by 2003. The 20 new headquarters are all operational. Two others have already been officially opened: the Joint Headquarters SOUTHEAST (Izmir, Turkey) and the Joint Headquarters SOUTHCENT (Larissa, Greece).