The Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, and the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană, opened the first meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session of 2023 on Wednesday 18 January 2023. This meeting brings together the Allied Chiefs of Defence and their counterparts from Invitees Finland and Sweden.
The Military Committee will discuss the strengthening of the Defence and Deterrence posture of the Alliance by increasing readiness, developing capabilities and interlinking national and NATO military planning more closely than ever. The Chiefs of Defence will also discuss the military situation in and around Ukraine. Tomorrow, sessions will include NATO's Operational Partners to discuss the NATO Mission in Iraq and the Kosovo Force Mission.
In his opening remarks, Admiral Bauer referred to the degraded global security environment caused by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Bauer: "Unfortunately, we are seeing the dawn of a new era of collective defense. However, it is an era that NATO is ready for. We have shown the world that we are capable of quickly scaling up our presence whenever and wherever necessary. "
The Deputy Secretary General stressed that NATO "must retain the military capacity and capability to defend the Alliance against all challenges, now and in the future, including in multi-domain operations." He further identified three areas of important work in the run up to the next Summit set to take place in Vilnius later this year: investing more in defence, ramping up production of weapons and ammunition, and transforming NATO for the digital age.
