NATO Defence Ministers decide on modernisation of Alliance

BRUSSELS, Feb 14 (KUNA) -- NATO Defence Ministers took decisions Wednesday on the ongoing modernisation of the Alliance and on reforms to the NATO Command Structure.
"It is the backbone of our Alliance. And it enables our 29 nations to act as one. It allows us to run our missions and operations. And to train and act in case of crisis. With the right forces, in the right place, at the right time," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference after the first day of NATO Defence Ministers meeting this evening.
He announced that NATO will establish a new Joint Force Command for the Atlantic, and establish a new support Command for logistics, reinforcement and military mobility.
Moreover, NATO will designate some additional land component commands in Europe and set up a new Cyber Operations Centre at its military headquarters in Mons, in Belgium.
He noted that at the end of the Cold War, NATO had 22,000 staff working in 33 commands. Today, the command structure is reduced to fewer than 7,000 staff in seven commands.
NATO Defence Ministers will decide in June on timelines, the locations of the new commands, and the increased staff levels that will be required.
On defence spending, Stoltenberg said that in 2014, Allies agreed to move towards investing 2 percent of GDP on defence within a decade.
"After years of decline, since 2014 we have seen three years of increasing defence spending across Europe and Canada. Amounting to an additional USD 46 billion. And the national plans show that in the coming years, we can expect further increases," he added.
Tomorrow NATO defence ministers will discuss the fight against terrorism and decide on boosting training of Iraqi security forces. (end) nk.sd