ISAF
augmentation in support of Afghanistan’s elections is complete
The
NATO Secretary General is very pleased to announce that the fifth ISAF
PRT, located in Pul-I-Khumri in the province of Baghlan, reached its
initial operating capability today. This brings to an end the first
phase of ISAF expansion as well as ISAF’s augmentation in support of
Afghanistan’s presidential elections.
Stanislav Gross, the new Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, visited NATO HQ
on Tuesday, 5 October 2004 for talks with NATO Secretary General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
NATO
Nations agree next step in implementing training in Iraq
The
NAC has agreed on a Concept of Operations for substantially
enchancing NATO's assistance to the Iraqi Interim Government
with the training of its security forces, as well as the
coordination of offers of training and equipment.
Afghanistan has become the latest link in NATO’s “Virtual Silk Highway” – the
project which provides high-speed Internet access to the academic
communities of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Deployments demonstrates
NATO’s commitment to Balkans
NATO has deployed extra troops to Bosnia and Herzegovina
and to Kosovo in an operational rehearsal designed to ensure that
the Alliance is prepared to respond to any crisis in the region.
NATO’s cutting-edge Response Force (NRF) has reached initial operational capability
and is now ready to take on the full range of missions where and
when the Alliance decides to use it.
Defence Ministers take forward
NATO's transformation
Improving the Alliance’s capability to engage
in operations and the future of its current missions was the focus
of informal talks of NATO Defence Ministers in Poiana Brasov, Romania,
on 13 October.
Meeting in Poiana Brasov, Romania, on 14 October,
Ministers of Defence from NATO and Russia took stock of cooperation
and reiterated their commitment to combat terrorism together.
Conference
on Countering Improvised Explosive Devices - Madrid, Spain
As part of NATO's
new armaments programme on defence against terrorism, the Spanish
Ministry of Defence will host the first, organising conference for
a joint effort to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in
Madrid on 18 and 19 October. Spain has taken on the role of lead
nation
in devising new techniques and capabilities to counter the threat
of IEDs, which is the number one terrorist cause of casualties among
Allied forces and populations.
From 18 to 29 October, about 500 personnel from 16 NATO countries will train
in high intensity war-fighting, operational planning, and command
and control in a computer-assisted exercise, Capable Warrior, in
Karup and Finderup in Denmark.
On 19 October, helicopters from the NATO-led ISAF force took part in a difficult
operation to rescue Afghan election officials and police officers
trapped in freezing conditions in remote mountains.
NATO and Central Asia share vital interests
and the Alliance is committed to expanding cooperation
with its Central Asian partners, NATO Secretary General
Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said during a tour of the region,
18-21 October.
Tajikistan
to boost support for NATO’s Afghanistan mission
On 20 October NATO Secretary General Jaap
de Hoop Scheffer signed together with Tajik Foreign Minister
Talbak Nazarov in Dushanbe a host nation support and transit
agreement with Tajikistan in support of NATO’s ISAF mission
in Afghanistan.
The new Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsány, discussed the
main issues on the Alliance’s agenda with NATO Secretary General, Jaap
de Hoop Scheffer, at NATO on 22 October.
NATO-EU-Russia
relations in the context of providing security in the Baltic region
were addressed
at the seminar in Kaliningrad
On 23-25 October 2004 an international seminar
on NATO, EU and security in the Baltic region took place in Kaliningrad.The
seminar was organized by Kaliningrad State University and Kaliningrad
Branch of the Association of European studies.
Statement
by Secretary General on Kosovo elections
Saturday’s elections were an important milestone for Kosovo. I welcome
the fact that they took place without significant acts of violence.
However, I deeply regret the very low participation of Kosovar Serbs
in the electoral process.
Partner countries to contribute to NATO’s
defence against terrorism efforts
At a meeting of Armaments Directors from NATO
and partner nations, an invitation was expended to the Alliance’s
partner countries to contribute to Alliance's high priority efforts
to transform NATO’s ability to defend against terrorist attacks
CNAD makes good progress on ground surveillance
and missile defence
Armaments Directors from the 26 NATO countries met in Brussels on
28 and 29 October 2004 to take forward key Alliance armaments projects,
including Alliance Ground Surveillance and Active Layered Theatre
Ballistic Missile Defence.
On 29 October, sixteen soldiers from the armed
forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina completed an intensive explosive
ordnance destruction course run by the NATO-led SFOR peacekeeping
force.
