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Last update: 15-Feb-2005 11:56 NATO Update

9 Feb 2005

 

Alliance to expand Afghanistan mission

Events
9-10/2/2005 - Nice, France
Photos, speeches and audio from the Informal Meeting of Defence Ministers
News

10/2/2005 - NATO
Statement
by NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on the expansion of ISAF

Multimedia

High resolution map of ISAF expansion
(JPG/2110kb)

Background

NATO in Afghanistan

NATO's assistance to Iraq

Meeting in Nice, France, 9-10 February, NATO Defence Ministers confirmed the further expansion of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, reviewed the Alliance’s other operations and discussed its military transformation.

The Alliance’s ability to deliver effective, enduring multinational military operations was the central theme of the informal meeting.

Ministers were briefed by NATO’s top commanders on the status and options for NATO’s current operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and the Mediterranean, and its military assistance to Iraq.

They also reviewed and discussed the factors that affect the Alliance’s capability to field complex military operations when and where necessary. This includes the planning and financing of operations, the decision-making processes, and the ‘usability’ of member countries forces.

“A lot has happened, but we can do better,” said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at a press conference, “We can do better in getting the forces ready when we need them, we can do better in transporting and deploying them… and sustaining them.”

Expanding in Afghanistan, delivering in Iraq

Informal meetings traditionally have no fixed agenda and no formal decisions are taken; they allow Ministers to discuss freely issues on NATO's agenda.

However, it was confirmed at the meeting, that NATO had the resources to expand its presence in Afghanistan, into the West of the country. The Ministers also discussed a possible further expansion to the South, and increasing synergies with the ongoing US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Secretary General stressed that NATO’s goal to train over 1,000 Iraqi officers per year and to help equip Iraqi forces remains unchanged.

“It is my intention and Allies’ intention that by the date we have a Summit, 22 February, all Allies wills support the training operation, be it by training inside Iraq, outside Iraq, or by contributing to the trust funds for the training mission,” Mr. De Hoop Scheffer told reporters.

Following a working luncheon of Foreign Ministers in Brussels on 9 February, the meeting of Defence Ministers helped to set the scene for the Summit Meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government, to be held at NATO’s Headquarters in Brussels on 22 February.