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| Updated: 24-Aug-2006 | NATO Press Releases |
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Press Release (2006)098 24 August 2006 |
New NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ambassador Daan Everts of the Netherlands to the position of NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan. Ambassador Everts, whose biography is attached, has a long and distinguished career in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including senior positions as Head of the European Community Monitoring Mission for the former Yugoslavia, Head of the OSCE Tirana Office in Albania, and Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo. As Senior Civilian Representative, Ambassador Everts will be responsible for carrying forward the political-military aspects of the Alliance’s assistance to the Afghan Government. He will work closely with ISAF, the United Nations and other co-ordinating bodies established by the international community and the Afghan Government in Kabul. The Secretary General stated “I welcome Ambassador Everts and wish him every success. He has a demanding task ahead in leading NATO’s political engagement in Afghanistan and has the Council’s full support”. Ambassador Everts replaces Minister Hikmet Çetin who served as NATO’s first Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan from November 2003 to August 2006. Minister Çetin witnessed and assisted in a number of landmark Afghan processes, including the first parliamentary and presidential elections, the post-Bonn agenda and the Afghanistan Compact. He saw NATO ISAF’s presence in Afghanistan expand to 19 provinces and the establishment of 13 Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). Minister Çetin became an indispensable partner to all the actors in Afghanistan. In recognising that security cannot be achieved by military means alone, he laid the ground work for continued progress and effective relations with the Government of Afghanistan, the international community and the broader Afghan population. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said “Perhaps most importantly, Minister Çetin brought NATO, and what the Alliance stands for and represents, closer to the hearts and minds of ordinary Afghans – and for that I thank him warmly”. |
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