SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Chiefs of Defence from the 26 NATO
member nations, along with Albania and Croatia on their way to full membership,
and the two NATO Strategic Commanders, wrapped up two days of discussions and
seminars here today.
PAA Office
Col. Massimo Panizzi
Rm 2050 – Tel 5983 – Fax 5713 Panizzi.massimo@hq.nato.int
Press Release
13 SEPT
2008
NATO’s
Chiefs of Defence conclude their conference in Sofia
SOFIA, Bulgaria
-- Chiefs of Defence from the 26 NATO member nations, along with Albania and Croatia on their way to full
membership, and the two NATO Strategic Commanders, wrapped up two days of
discussions and seminars here today.
“It
was definitely a productive meeting,“ said Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, NATO’s
top officer, at the end of his first Military Committee Conference as Chairman.
“In the frank, trusted atmosphere that is typical of our meetings, we had
a chance to make great steps forward in our common agenda and achieve consensus
on many issues,” Di Paola said.
The
meetings opened focusing on NATO ongoing operations and how to enhance the related
strategic approaches.
Concerning
Afghanistan, the Committee
welcomed the distinguished attendance of General Bizmullah Khan, the Afghan
Chief of Defence, whose intervention, along with the one of Major General Bob
Cone, the Commander of Combined Security Transition Command (Afghanistan), helped frame the strategic
reflection on the situation and the overall direction in the military campaign.
The Committee underlined the extremely valuable briefing given by Khan, which
contributed to shedding significant light on the situation of the Afghan
National Security Forces (ANSF) and the encouraging progress that the Afghan
National Army (ANA) in particular is making.
In
support of political directives, NATO’s military continues the strong
commitment in Afghanistan
with ISAF, which is supporting, also through training, the ANA to improve
safety and security across the country. Acknowledging the essential role of
self-sustaining ANSF in assuring long-term security, the Committee confirmed
the clear and common understanding of the requirements to ensure that objectives
are reached as soon as possible, but also noted that NATO’s mission in Afghanistan,
as an international commitment, requires a better coordination effort among all
the actors involved.
The
current situation in Kosovo was also examined. Progress was assessed, from an operational
point of view, also in the light of the new realities that are developing on
the ground in Kosovo.
The
members of the Committee, during discussions, underlined the devotion, the commitment
and the sacrifice of NATO’s soldiers in their daily effort to contribute
in establishing better conditions for peace and security.
On
the basis of the NATO partnership with Georgia, recent events in the Caucasus
region were discussed taking into account the military implications for NATO, in
anticipation of the outcome of the recently established NATO-Georgia Commission.
The
Committee then focused on the analysis of Multiple Futures. General Jim Mattis,
the Commander of the Allied Command for Transformation (Norfolk, USA), discussed
his work in developing future scenarios with the implications for the Alliance
in terms of transforming, adapting structures, doctrine, and policy to gain the
highest level in agility, flexibility and adaptability needed for today’s
and tomorrow’s comprehensive approach to operations.
Considering
this and all the mentioned challenges, the Military Committee embraced the task
of enabling itself to take a far more strategic, forward-looking role, aiming to
offer the best and most timely support to the North Atlantic Council for all
strategic and military matters, with the imperative to better contribute to
success in operational and transformational endeavours.
Admiral
Di Paola, on behalf of the Committee, closed the working session of the
Conference, expressing satisfaction for the results of the meetings and
gratitude to Bulgaria
and General Zslatan Stoykov for the great hospitality.
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