NATO SAYS PARTNERSHIPS "FUNDAMENTAL" TO DEALING WITH SECURITY

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
NATO Fosters Partnerships Key to Future Success
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2013 - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised efforts that are expanding and strengthening the partnerships he called fundamental to the alliance's ability to deal with modern security challenges.

Partnerships "are key to our future success in a world where risks cross borders and we are all interconnected," Rasmussen said during a news conference yesterday in Brussels.

"By working together, NATO and our partners are making a real contribution to dealing with today's security threats, including outside the Euro-Atlantic area," he said. "Partnerships produce real results -- on operations, in training and exercises, and in the reform and management of democratic defense institutions."

In addition to broad cooperation demonstrated by the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, NATO continues to expand its efforts with partners in other operational theaters, the secretary general said.

He recognized several new developments:

-- A Ukrainian frigate joined Operation Ocean Shield yesterday, representing the first time any partner nation has taken part in NATO's counter-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa;

-- The Republic of Moldova will join the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, the first time that country has contributed to any NATO-led operation;

-- NATO allies and partners in southeastern Europe came together last week to work on a NATO-led initiative aimed at improving governance and democratic oversight in the defense sector; and

-- NATO partner Austria is co-leading a NATO project to support the defense education system of another partner country, Serbia.

"We have immense experience of working with partners," Rasmussen said. "And looking ahead, our cooperation with partners continues to grow."

A major NATO exercise to take place in Poland and the Baltic states next month will ensure the NATO Response Force "is ready to defend any ally, deploy anywhere and deal with any threat," he said.

Ukraine and Finland will participate in the Steadfast Jazz exercise, and other NATO partners have expressed interest as well, he reported.

"So they will train alongside us -- and will then have met the requirements to deploy with next year's NATO Response Force," he said.

Meanwhile, another NATO partner, Georgia, has been accepted to join the Response Force in the future, and Rasmussen said he expects Georgian troops to be available to the force in the 2015 timeframe.

"This, again, would be a first: the first time Georgia has joined NATO's rapid-reaction team," he said.

NATO's diverse partnerships "are delivering," he added.

Rasmussen recognized as examples milestones to be reached in the coming year: the 20th year of the Partnership for Peace initiative aimed at strengthening security and cooperation across the Euro-Atlantic, the 20th anniversary of the Mediterranean Dialogue that forges ties with countries around the Mediterranean, and the 10th year of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative with Gulf region nations.

"All these initiatives have borne fruit, but there is more that they can do," he said.

Exploring ways build on 20 years of operations experience and to take the alliance to that next step is expected to be a major agenda item at NATO's 2014 Summit in Great Britain.

"The summit ... will ensure that we continue to build on the lessons we have learned, to strengthen the alliance and keep it ready to deal with modern security challenges," Rasmussen said. "It will reaffirm the vital transatlantic bond on which NATO was founded. And it will further enhance our partnerships, which are key to our future success."

NATO MINISTERS AND POST-2014 AFGHANISTAN

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
NATO Defense Ministers Set Post-2014 Afghanistan Mission
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, June 5, 2013 - NATO defense ministerial meetings yesterday and today helped to cement the alliance's commitment to a "train, advise and assist" mission that will begin after the International Security Assistance Force disbands at the end of 2014, NATO's senior civilian leader said today.

"The end of 2014 will mark the end of our combat mission, but also a new beginning for Afghanistan," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said during a news conference at the end of the ministerial gathering. "The Afghan people will be fully responsible for their country's freedom, their country's fate, and their country's future."

But they will not stand alone, he added. NATO has committed to a new mission called "Resolute Support." It will not be ISAF by another name, Rasmussen emphasized. "It will be different and significantly smaller. Its aim will be to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces, not substitute for them," he said.

NATO's presence for that mission will center in the geographic corners of the country – east, west, north and south – and in the capital of Kabul, he said.

Rasmussen said over the last 11 years, NATO's ISAF mission has given the Afghan government and people space to build their future. "With this new mission, we will continue to support them," he added. "But ultimately, it is for the Afghans to determine their own future. That is what security transition is all about."

While NATO has not yet assigned troop numbers for Resolute Support, he said, many member nations have expressed interest in contributing. Rasmussen added he is confident NATO will get enough contributions to ensure the Resolute Support mission will be fully manned.

The secretary general noted today's program also included a meeting of the NATO-Georgia commission. Georgia, which aspires to join the alliance, is a committed partner and the largest non-NATO contributor to ISAF, he said.

Georgia has demonstrated impressive commitment to the alliance even as it pursues its own far-reaching defense reforms, Rasmussen said.

"Today, ministers expressed their appreciation for all Georgia has done to support our common goals," he said. "They reaffirmed NATO's continued support for Gerogia's territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders. And they made clear that they are ready to support and assist Georgia as it moves ahead with its reforms."