PR/CP (2006)098
24 August 2006
NEW NATO SENIOR CIVILIAN
REPRESENTATIVE IN AFGHANISTAN
APPOINTMENT OF AMBASSADOR DAAN W. EVERTS
AND DEPARTURE OF MINISTER HIKMET ÇETIN
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, is pleased to
announce the appointment of Ambassador Daan Everts of the Netherlands to
the position of NATO Senior Civilian Representative in
Afghanistan.
Ambassador Everts, whose biography is attached, has a long and
distinguished career in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
including senior positions as Head of the European Community Monitoring
Mission for the former Yugoslavia, Head of the OSCE Tirana Office in
Albania, and Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
As Senior Civilian Representative, Ambassador Everts will be responsible
for carrying forward the political-military aspects of the AllianceÂ’s
assistance to the Afghan Government. He will work closely with
ISAF, the United Nations and other co-ordinating bodies established by
the international community and the Afghan Government in Kabul.
The Secretary General stated “I welcome Ambassador Everts and wish him
every success. He has a demanding task ahead in leading NATOÂ’s
political engagement in Afghanistan and has the CouncilÂ’s full
support”.
Ambassador Everts replaces Minister Hikmet Çetin who served as NATO’s
first Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan from November 2003 to
August 2006.
Minister Çetin witnessed and assisted in a number of landmark Afghan
processes, including the first parliamentary and presidential elections,
the post-Bonn agenda and the Afghanistan Compact. He saw NATO
ISAFÂ’s presence in Afghanistan expand to 19 provinces and the
establishment of 13 Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).
Minister Çetin became an indispensable partner to all the actors in
Afghanistan. In recognising that security cannot be achieved by
military means alone, he laid the ground work for continued progress and
effective relations with the Government of Afghanistan, the international
community and the broader Afghan population.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said “Perhaps most
importantly, Minister Çetin brought NATO, and what the Alliance stands
for and represents, closer to the hearts and minds of ordinary
Afghans and for that I thank him warmly”.