NATO Defence Ministers Meeting – DAY 1

By Nigel Chamberlain, NATO Watch

Introductory statement by NATO Secretary General

Mr Rasmussen told journalists that NATO Defence Ministers and their partner nations would be discussing their new mission, to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces post-2014 on Friday.

He said that the ISAF mission had driven the modernisation of NATO forces which must be maintained and built on through the Connected Forces Initiative, with “a new emphasis and energy to our rapid-reaction corps, the NATO Response Force”.

The Ministers would also discuss how to increase co-operation on capability development through Smart Defence in order to remain “ready to deal with any challenge the future may bring”. Lastly, the development of NATO-Ukraine relations would be discussed.

Responding to a question about the potential effects on NATO of US defence spending cuts next month, the Secretary General said that it is a matter of concern to see declining defence budgets, which will, if they continue in this direction, have a negative impact on NATO.  Just as UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said as he entered the building for the meeting, Rasmussen encouraged greater cooperation and prioritisation now and increased defence spending in better times.

A second, and last question addressed the post-2014 mission in Afghanistan and the possibility of problems arising from too few troops left on the ground. Rasmussen didn’t answer directly but said that the decision on the size and scope of the mission would be taken in the coming months. Philip Hammond said that around 200 British troops would take the lead on officer training in Kabul.

Bilateral meeting between the Secretary General and the US Secretary of Defense

There is no official report of this meeting but it is likely that Leon Panetta will have explained the effects of the forthcoming US budget cuts to the military, known as ‘sequestration’, and the knock-on effects to their contribution to NATO. Deputy US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said this week:

We’re really trying to keep on protecting the country and delivering the defense under these circumstances. In some cases, that’s not going to be possible. Many of our Air Force air units will not be ready to fight other wars. A third of our Navy, our ships in the Pacific, will not be at sea. It's because we can't afford to operate them because we don't have any money left in the accounts that fund them. And we have to cut account by account by account. That's what sequestration forces us to do.

On 1 March, assuming no White House-congressional agreement on a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction package over the coming decade, more than $500 billion in Pentagon cuts will kick in automatically, with $46 billion having to be found immediately.

The Defense Secretary was probably also informing the Secretary General that General Philip M. Breedlove, currently the commander of American Air Force units in Europe and Africa, was ‘emerging’ as the likely candidate to be nominated by President Obama as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). A bit like awaiting the puff of white smoke from the chimney at the Vatican?

[See NATO Watch Comment: How about a European for SACEUR this time, you guys?]

The North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting

Opening the NAC meeting, the Secretary General said: “As I speak, NATO forces are busy around the world. Building security. And spreading stability”.

He stressed the importance of the Alliance’s solidarity and resolve, of having the right capabilities, at high readiness. NATO members need to maintain their political, military and economic investment in defence and do more “as our economies start to recover”.

Smart Defence is “the new mindset”.  The Connected Forces Initiative “will be at the forefront of delivering the modern, tightly connected, high readiness forces we need”. The press were then invited to depart.

Press conference with the General Secretary

“Today, we have taken some important steps forward. To keep NATO prepared to deal with the threats of the future – while adapting to the economic realities of the present,” Mr Rasmussen told journalists.

Objectives were agreed for the Connected Forces Initiative (expanding education and training, and enhancing exercises) and military experts were asked to come up with concrete proposals on how to put them into practice, including a comprehensive training plan to 2020. The NATO Response Force will be at the core of the Connected Forces Initiative.

More will be done with common funding to support the Alliance’s priorities of supporting training and exercises, enhancing the NATO Response Force and on Joint Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance.  Abbreviated Q&A:

Q1 Agence Europe: Could you be more precise what changes will be made to the common funding mechanism and can you tell us how strengthened, joint exercises will be funded and if they affect the NATO defence planning process?

SG: Common funding will be enhanced by focussing on improving deployability of our forces and on interoperability through joint exercises education. This also applies to joint intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance work. Additionally, the management of resources will be improved, as will transparency to demonstrate that money is spent in an efficient manner. Exercises will still be a national responsibility and financed by member states but NATO exercises will be partly funded by common funding. The whole process of NATO defence planning will be more transparent, more synchronised with national defence planning and more efficient and responsive to future requirements.

Q2 Reuters: Do you think there's a limit to how much greater efficiency you can achieve from defence spending through SMART Defence? And are we approaching that point?

SG: Yes, definitely. Multi-international cooperation and SMART Defence are an important part of the response to economic austerity. No doubt money can be saved by joint efforts and shared resources in multinational cooperation. My major concern is that defence cuts will severely damage our ability to meet future security challenges.

Q3 Associated Press: Senior NATO officials are telling us that NATO is considering a proposal to continue funding an Afghan security force of 352,000 troops through 2018 as a way of convincing Afghanistan that its allies are not going to abandon them. And in this era of declining budgets that you've already referenced several times today, are you confident that you can find the money?

SG: I can confirm that it's one of the ideas that is being considered. I feel confident that we will be able to finance Afghan security forces of that size. Right from the outset, we have set the goal to reach the level of 352,000 Afghan Security Forces, soldiers and police. And the international community has pledged to help finance it.