NATO and Partners’ Chiefs of Defence will gather at NATO Headquarters for the first Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence format of 2013. General Knud Bartels, Chairman of the Military Committee, will chair the discussions on NATO Transformation post 2014, Afghanistan, and partnership. Admiral Jim Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and General Jean-Paul Paloméros, Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation will support sessions with their insights.
The 168th NATO Chiefs of Defence meeting will begin with a session with the CHODS from the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) partner countries.
The second session will focus on Afghanistan. General John Allen, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), will brief NATO and Partners on the current situation and progress of transition to Afghan security lead. Subsequently, the Military Committee will be updated on the development of the planning for the post 2014 mission to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces.
In their respective meeting formats, the Chiefs of Defence of Russia and Euro Atlantic Partnership Countries will discuss military-to-military cooperation in support of NATO core tasks and emerging security challenges.
On Thursday, the Military Committee will review the progress of the NATO Mission in Kosovo and other current NATO operations, including counter piracy. Other sessions will be dedicated to setting out a coherent roadmap for military transformation, with Smart Defence and the Connected Forces Initiative as core tools.
The aim throughout the two days will be to ensure that the NATO military structures and capabilities remain fit for purpose and matched to the core tasks of collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security.
