North Atlantic Treaty Organization
June 9, 2015
Directors of the NATO International Military Staff and European Union Military Staff meet to discuss strengthening their strategic partnership
Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper, Director General of the NATO International Military Staff (DGIMS) and Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wosolsobe, Director General of the European Union Military Staff (DGEUMS) co-chaired on 5 June the first informal IMS-EUMS staff to staff talks Conference of 2015. The conference is part of the current NATO – EU strategic military dialogue established in 2003.
The conference’s purpose was to discuss the ongoing staff to staff activities on areas of mutual interest and to look at ways to further practical cooperation to enhance IMS-EUMS complementarity. The main topics of discussion were Hybrid Warfare, Cyber Defence, NATO’s Readiness Action Plan and the current security challenges to the East and South of the organizations.
During the day’s discussions, Air Marshal Harper stressed the need for continued dialogue and cooperation between NATO and the EU. He identified the many common values and shared interests between the two organizations. “There is a need to better coordinate our efforts in the fields where both organizations are engaged, not only because the EU is an important and essential partner, but also to avoid duplication of effort”, said the Director General of the IMS.
Concluding the conference, Lieutenant General Wosolsobe emphasized that cooperation at the military level should be further developed in tandem with progress registered at the political level. Given the challenges from the East and from the South, time would be ripe to further meet Member States expectations for enhanced EU-NATO engagement, also in the light of the strategy reviews both organizations will start to address respectively.
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