North Atlantic Treaty Organization
January 16, 2014
170th NATO Chiefs of Defence meeting
[Past chiefs of defense staff meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels have included 65-70 heads of national militaries]
The Military Committee, NATO’s highest military authority, will meet from 22-23 January at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels for its first Chief of Defence session in 2014. General Knud Bartels, Chairman of the Military Committee, will chair a series of meetings with NATO Allies and Partners concerning current NATO Operations, ongoing Transformation activities and strengthening future Partnerships.
The 170th NATO Chiefs of Defence meeting will begin on Wednesday 22 January 2014 with sessions with partners from the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) on how to further develop practical cooperation. Among the key speakers will be General Mashal Al Zaben,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces, who will offer his views on the current security situation and challenges in the MD region.
Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, will attend the NATO Russia Council with Military Representatives (NRC-MR), sharing his views on military-to-military cooperation. The Chiefs of Defence are expected to approve the 2014 NRC-MR Work Plan, which will launch this year’s activities.
Subsequently, the NATO and Partners’ Chiefs of Defence will review the current operation in Afghanistan and discuss plans for the future mission, Resolute Support. Discussions will be triggered by situational updates from Ambassador Maurits Jochems, NATO’s Senior Civilian Representative in the country, General Philip M. Breedlove, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and General Joseph F. Dunford,
Commander of the ISAF Operation. At the meeting with KFOR partners, the Chiefs of Defence will receive a political and operational overview on the security situation in Kosovo, which will form a basis for discussion on NATO’s future presence in Kosovo.
Meetings on Thursday 23 January 2014 will focus on NATO Transformation and in particular on activities that support the delivery of ready, relevant and effective NATO military capabilities. General Jean-Paul Paloméros, Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation, will offer his thoughts on Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 – a large scale exercise to be conducted in 2015, which will emphasise NATO’s focus on operational readiness – and wider aspects related to the Connected Forces Initiatives. A presentation by General Patrick de Rousiers, the Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, on the outcomes and implementations following the recent EU Defence Summit, will conclude the debates on Smart Defence.
The aim throughout the two days will be to analyse the key military deliverables for the forthcoming series of NATO Ministerial meetings and the subsequent NATO Summit to be held in Wales in 2014.
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