Blog Posts tagged with "allies"

As NATO finishes up the successful Chicago Summit and moves into the summer months, several key issues are bubbling.

The first is the Balkans. There has, of course, been enormous improvement in the Balkans over the past 10-15 years.  In the mid-to-late 1990s, over a hundred thousand people were killed in inter-ethnic violence and nearly a million were pushed out of their homes.

Today, the region is generally at peace.  Slovenia, Croatia, and Albania are members of NATO. Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia* and Montenegro are both in a Membership Action Plan that will eventually lead to membership. All of the nations of the Balkans have forsworn violence as a means to settle disputes.

But, there is continuing tension in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the three leading ethnic groups that form the tripartite government. Serbia and Kosovo have profound disagreements about independence, borders, and minorities within borders. A recent election in Serbia has brought in a new government that, based on campaign rhetoric, seems less inclined toward resolving tensions with Kosovo.

This past week saw violence in northern Kosovo at roadblocks erected by ethnic Serbs within Kosovo. Tension continues to be high. What is necessary is political dialog, steady work by the European Union and NATO to preserve a safe and secure environment, and lots of patience.

That means NATO will continue to keep more than 5,000 troops there for the foreseeable future, and the Balkans will remain on the summer agenda.

Second, of course, is Afghanistan. The transition to Afghan led security forces must continue, and our primary NATO mission of training the Afghans to take over their own security will remain at the center of our summer efforts. We'll also continue to oppose the Taliban insurgency; promote development and protect the people of Afghanistan; work on civil-military projects to bring power, education, and sanitation to the countryside; and try to reduce corruption. We have had a good couple of days in rescuing hostages and repulsing a complex attack in Khost, but as always, there are many challenges ahead.

Boarding team members during a training exercise at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center during Phoenix Express 2012, an exercise designed to improve cooperation among participating nations and help increase safety and security in the Mediterranean Sea.

Third will be counter-piracy. NATO will work with the European Union and a wide variety of nations -- including China, India, Russia, Iran, the Gulf States, Singapore, Korea, and others. Virtually everyone agrees we must collectively stop the scourge of piracy, which costs the global economy close to $10 billion each year, and risks the lives of mariners and hostages.

Fourth will be working on the new NATO missile defense system. We've put in place a sea-based system, connected it to a land-based radar in Turkey, and combined it using command and control stations in Germany. The interim capability is in place and we'll be working on expanding it, even as we continue our dialog with Russia to convince them that the system poses no threat to their strategic systems. It is directed only against those nations with limited (but dangerous) ballistic missile systems and the capability to strike the Alliance.

Another key task is reshaping the NATO Command Structure. We're reducing the Alliance's standing commands from 13,000 to only 9,000 personnel, and cutting from 11 major headquarters to only six. This big cut will be phased in over the next 12-18 months, and we need to do it while conducting operations with 140,000 troops deployed on three continents. We'll do it carefully and make sure that our operations don't falter.

Finally, I am working hard on cyber security. As I've often said, in the world of cyber we are only "on the beach at Kitty Hawk," in comparing it with aviation. We have a whole world of norms, regulations, navigation systems, rules, security zones, and a thousand other modalities to get right. Part of this, naturally, is security. This means the private sector, the government agencies, and the defense departments of all our allies must work together to continue the hard work of setting up a cyber defense structure.

Naturally we're watching other challenging issues, from Syria to illegal trafficking in the Mediterranean, which could affect the security of the Alliance.

In addition to all of that, we're thinking hard about the Alliance post-2014 as we draw down from Afghanistan -- training, exercises, engagement, NATO Response Force, and other structures (like unmanned aerial vehicles) to "keep the edge" on our military capability as our forces return from expeditionary operations.

It is a busy time for us all, and despite the summer vacation period, I expect NATO will remain quite engaged. Our new Comprehensive Crisis Operations Management Center (essentially a 24/7 watch space) will be up and running hard!

Best,
Jim

Admiral, USN
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Commander, US European Command
"Stronger Together"

*Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.