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.
