NATO Chiefs of Defence meeting - Part II

NATO HQ, Brussels, 25-26 April 2012

By Nigel Chamberlain, NATO Watch (see Part I covering the first day, here)

In the closing press conference on Thursday afternoon, General Knud Bartels, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee told reporters that:
 
This morning we looked at other on-going operations, particularly the counter piracy efforts of the Horn of Africa, and security operations in Kosovo. As you will know, elections in Serbia are coming up beyond the 6th of May and we want to make sure that the security in Kosovo is optimal and that we have no spill over of one kind or another.
 
Finally, we have been reviewing the lessons we have identified from the conduct of Operation Unified Protector, so that we can improve, shall we say, the ability of the command structure to handle operations of this type. In this case it was primarily an air operation and this, of course, we've been looking particularly into.
 
And finally, we had a quick review of the military aspects of the Chicago Summit, particularly Smart Defence and the implementation of the new NATO command structure which should begin here by June 2012. 
 
Answering questions afterwards, General Bartels gave more detail about troop numbers in Kosovo (approx. 6,500) which would be reinforced by German and Austrian troops (approx.700-750) by 2nd May in advance of the Serbia elections on 6th May. KFOR will “make sure that all assets are available should tensions arise”.
 
He declined to comment on the possibility of an early withdrawal of French troops, depending on the outcome of forthcoming Presidential elections and said that discussions would be had with the incoming French Government and “we will do the necessary planning accordingly”.
 
In response to a question about missile defence following the recent coverage of the two unfavourable reports in the US, he said that he had not read them but:
 
What I do know is that the U.S. government has stated quite clearly that it is its intention, in consultation with the Allies, to declare the interim operational capability and therefore taking the first step of a development for ballistic missile defence capability primarily in Europe, which will stretch over quite a substantial number of years.
 
More detail of what was discussed in each session is available on the NATO website.