NR–12.072 - April 27, 2012
OTTAWA – The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Walt Natynczyk, joined his NATO counterparts this week for the 167th meeting of NATO’s Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium. The two-day gathering focused on the evolution of NATO and NATO-led operations, operational lessons learned and ways of improving cooperation with Partners. These discussions will help finalize the Committee’s military advice and guidance to the North Atlantic Council in preparation for the upcoming NATO Summit scheduled for May 20-21 in Chicago.
“These NATO meetings of the Chiefs of Defence were, as always, productive and essential to building international relationships. I found the updates on operational plans in Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Mediterranean to be invaluable," said General Natynczyk. “I was also encouraged by the discussions we had about NATO's transformation. This meeting follows the NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers meetings last week, and together they were key milestones in advance of the NATO Summit in May.”
During the meetings, NATO’s 28 Chiefs of Defence sat alongside Admiral Jim Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and General Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander NATO Transformation to discuss the Alliance’s priorities and challenges for the medium and longer term. The Military Committee also focused on NATO’s Strategic Plan for Afghanistan and received a mission update from General John R. Allen, the current Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The Military Committee sessions also addressed NATO’s operations in Kosovo, its counter piracy and counter terrorism missions, and the Alliance’s ‘Lessons Learned’ following its operations in Libya (Op Unified Protector). NATO’s Chiefs of Defence welcomed separate discussions with their Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian counterparts with a view to further developing practical military cooperation and improve on their existing partnerships with NATO.
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For more information about the Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff, please visit his Website at: www.forces.gc.ca/site/ocds-bcemd/index-eng.asp
For more information about the NATO Military Committee, please visit the following Website: www.nato.int/ims
For more information about Canada’s relationship with NATO, please consult the following backgrounder.
