174th Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session

Speaking at the meeting of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that significant progress had been made in 2015 in implementing the decisions taken at the Wales Summit. He highlighted the enhancement of the NATO Response Force (NRF) and the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) (a spearhead force created within the NRF), the establishment of the first six NATO Force Integration Units (NFIU), and a decision made about setting up NFIUs in Hungary and Slovakia. He emphasized that the changes in the security situation will persist in the long run, so NATO must carry on with its political, military and organizational adaptation. The former is aimed at strengthening the Alliance’s deterrence capability and at increasing the readiness and deployability of the necessary forces accordingly.

The NATO Secretary General pointed out that during the crisis management operations, the Alliance must try to project stability, but it must also be able to deploy large forces rapidly. Cooperation with the EU and the UN is a priority in developing defence capabilities and must be given more content in the future.

In the first day’s afternoon session, the Chiefs of Defence assessed the current state of the “Resolute Support" Mission (RSM) conducted in Afghanistan. They received operational briefings from the Supreme Commander Alllied Forces Europe (SACEUR) and from the Commander of the “Resolute Support" Mission, and based on these, they discussed the tasks for the year 2016 and the ensuing period.

In his contribution, Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő emphasized Hungary’s commitment to the success of the mission, which is being conducted to create security and therefore may go a long way towards reducing the number of migrants leaving Afghanistan.

During a meeting held with Chiefs of Defence from the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia), the representatives of the general staffs of Egypt and Morocco gave presentations on the security situation of their region. They highlighted the crisis in Libya, the Syrian civil war and the activity of extremist Islamic organizations, which are exerting a severe impact on the security of the region. The Chiefs of Defence unanimously approved a package of proposals aimed at strengthening military-to-military cooperation between NATO and the MD countries in the interest of developing defence capabilities.

In the afternoon session, the Chiefs of Defence stated that the implementation of military tasks of the Readiness Action Plan (RAP) endorsed at the Wales Summit has resulted in a clear progress in the field of developing the Alliance’s military capabilities over the recent months. At the same time, the increasingly complex and deteriorating security environment requires further adaptation. The Alliance is facing some enduring challenges from the east and the south, which require continuous responses.

At the meeting, the Chiefs of Defence endorsed the strategy of military adaptation that is based on a joint decision taken at the Military Committee Conference held in Istanbul in September 2015. The strategy provides guidance for the development of the Alliance’s military capabilities, high-level readiness and deployability posture. In his contribution, Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő expressed support for the directions of NATO’s military adaptation, pointing out that the Alliance must be ready to carry out each of its three core missions, namely collective defence, crisis management and security cooperation with the partners. While talking about how to deal with threats emanating from the south, he emphasized that NATO has to cooperate with other international organizations in this field, especially with the European Union.

During a break of the meeting, Chief of Defence of the Slovak armed forces Gen. Milan Maxim presented Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő with the gold grade of the Chief of Defence memorial medal of the armed forces of Slovakia, in recognition of his work done in the interest of the excellent cooperation between the Slovak and Hungarian armed forces.

Photos: General Staff and nato.int