Press
Release
(2003)148
1 Dec. 2003 |
Final
Communiqué
Meeting of the
North Atlantic Council
in Defence Ministers Session
held in Brussels on Monday, 1
December 2003
- The North Atlantic Council met in Defence
Ministers session on 1 December 2003. Defence Ministers
and Representatives of the Allies were joined by their colleagues
from the countries invited to join the Alliance.
- We are at an important juncture in the evolution of
the Alliance. We are embarked on new operations, are developing
greater capabilities and are preparing to admit seven new
members. Against this background of continuing transformation,
we discussed a wide range of matters of common interest,
and concentrated on ongoing Alliance operations and crisis
management issues, and progress in transforming NATO's military
capabilities. We also discussed what must be accomplished
in the defence field before the Istanbul Summit and gave
direction for the necessary work.
- Our military capabilities must be able to respond rapidly
and effectively, wherever the Alliance decides, to the
challenges to our security, from wherever they may come,
including the dangers posed by terrorism. We reviewed the
valuable work that has been accomplished since the Prague
Summit to this end, in particular progress in establishing
the NATO Response Force, implementing the new command structure,
and meeting the Prague Capabilities Commitment. The Alliance
took special note of the establishment today of the NATO
multinational Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear
Defence Battalion. Increasing the deployability and usability
of our forces is essential if we are to continue to fulfil
our operational commitments. We have issued a separate statement
regarding our discussions of these and other aspects of the
ongoing transformation of our military capabilities.
- We are deeply grateful to all those who have taken part
in NATO-led operations and offer our sincere condolences
to the families and loved ones of those who have died in
the line of duty. We also express our sympathy to all the
victims of terrorism and resolutely condemn it in all its
forms and wherever it occurs.
- In Afghanistan, the Alliance now leads the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under its UN mandate.
This operation demonstrates our readiness to deploy forces
wherever the Alliance decides, to ensure our common security.
Our aim is to assist in the emergence of a united, sovereign
country, integrated into the international community, including
by assisting the Afghan Transitional Authority in the maintenance
of security and stability and in the electoral process according
to the Bonn Process. We decided on the progressive expansion
of ISAF beyond Kabul in accordance with UN Security Council
resolutions, including through temporary deployments for
specific tasks and limited in size and duration, provided
all military conditions, and requirements for the Kabul mission,
are met. We will continue to address the scope of such specific
tasks. We welcome the German deployment of a pilot Provincial
Reconstruction Team (PRT), under ISAF, in Kunduz. Expecting
that the establishment of additional PRTs will follow, we
consider that ISAF could move to assume military command
of such PRTs where consistent with military requirements
and capabilities. Achievement of these objectives will be
subject to consultations with and contributions from PRT
framework nations and the provision of the required assets,
including for Kabul International Airport. We will review
NATO's contribution to stabilization efforts in Afghanistan
on a regular basis. It is necessary to ensure close co-ordination
and co-operation between ISAF and Operation Enduring Freedom,
and also with the Afghan National Army. Our forces will also
have to work closely with the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan
and other international organisations on the ground, including
the EU.
- The Alliance has made indispensable contributions to
peace and stability in the Balkans, and we remain fully committed
to these goals. In light of significant progress in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
SFOR will reduce to a deterrent force of around 7,000 troops
by next June. Over the coming months, we will consider
how to adjust the operation further, including its possible
termination by the end of 2004 and a transition possibly
to a new NATO military liaison and advisory mission (NATO
Headquarters Sarajevo) and to a new EU mission within the
framework of the Berlin Plus arrangements; in this context,
the NATO Military Authorities, keeping the Military Committee
informed, should consult with their EU counterparts on Bosnia-Herzegovina,
in accordance with agreed texts and procedures.
- In Kosovo, however, a large NATO force
remains essential. KFOR continues to play an essential
role in contributing to the maintenance of security and stability.
It will be restructured but will not be reduced below 17,500
troops for the time being. NATO and the EU have agreed
a concerted approach for the Western Balkans. In the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1,
NATO's support to the EU's Operation Concordia, on which
NATO has conducted its preliminary lessons learned process,
successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of the Berlin
Plus arrangements. This confirms the value of close NATO-EU
cooperation more generally. In the agreed framework of the
NATO-EU strategic partnership, we will work to develop further
our cooperation where necessary. NATO's Partners play a crucial
role in NATO-led operations, which is but one instance of
the importance of our Partnerships for Euro-Atlantic security.
- Operation Active Endeavour continues to make a significant
and effective contribution to the fight against terrorism
in the Mediterranean. To date the mission has hailed over
36,000 vessels, and has escorted almost 350 Allied civilian
ships safely through the Straits of Gibraltar.
- The Alliance continues to support Poland in its leadership
of a multinational division in Iraq. The North Atlantic
Council will review NATO's contribution to the stabilization
efforts in Iraq on a regular basis.
- Looking ahead to the Istanbul Summit, we have directed
that:
- the NATO Response Force should continue to be developed
with a view to achieving initial operational capability
as soon as possible but not later than October, 2004,
and full operational capability not later than October,
2006; and to enable the effective use of this capability,
measures should be pursued to increase the Alliance's
ability, on the basis of thorough preparations, to
prepare and launch operations quickly when the Alliance
decides to act;
- work should continue on the NATO multinational Chemical,
Biological, Radiological, Nuclear defence battalion
in order to achieve full operational capability from
July 2004 onwards, together with the development of the
NATO Response Force;
- the implementation of the new command structure should
continue according to the agreed implementation plan,
resulting in a more effective and efficient structure.
We look forward to achieving significant reductions in
the peacetime establishments of the new command structure;
- work to implement both the national and multinational
aspects of the Prague Capabilities Commitment should
continue as a matter of urgency with a particular focus
on deployability and sustainability, and on addressing
shortages in combat support and combat service support;
- work on increasing the usability and deployability
of the Allies' forces, including the development of output
targets for both, and on the force generation process
should continue as a matter of particular priority;
- reports on these and other relevant aspects of efforts
to transform NATO's military capabilities should be
provided to the Heads of State and Government in Istanbul;
- work should continue on the protection of deployed
NATO forces against theatre ballistic missiles and on
examining options for protecting Alliance territory, forces
and populations centres against the full range of missile
threats in an effective and efficient way through an appropriate
mix of political and defence efforts, along with deterrence;
- work on strengthening Partnership for Peace should
continue to promote defence reform and transformation
and the development of the capabilities necessary to improve
the interoperability of Partner forces with NATO across
the full range of missions which Partners and Allies
might carry out together ;
- the review of NATO agencies agreed at the Prague Summit
is to be completed in time for a final report to Ministers
in December 2004.
- We wish to thank Lord Robertson of Port Ellen warmly
for his leadership role in guiding NATO's transformation.
We are confident that the new Secretary General, Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer, will continue to carry forward NATO's transformation,
and build on the Alliance's record of success, and pledge
our full support to him.
- Turkey recognises
the former Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional
name.
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