Top military officers of the Alliance’s member and Partner nations will convene at NATO HQ, Brussels, on 6th and 7th May 2009, for their Spring meeting. This is the first of three meetings per year for the NATO Chiefs of Defence, NATO’s highest military authority.

More than 40 Chiefs of Defence from NATO members, ISAF troop contributing non-member nations, Ukraine and Georgia will be in attendance. Chiefs of Defence from Albania and Croatia will participate for the first time in their status as NATO member countries. The Afghanistan Chief of Defence and the Afghanistan Deputy Minister of the Interior and Chief of Police, together with the Commander, Combined Security Transitional Command, Afghanistan will also participate, via videoconference, for discussions on the situation in Afghanistan. The Chairman of the EU Military Committee will also attend.

Over the several different sessions, Chiefs of Defence will take stock of all NATO-led operations and missions (ISAF, KFOR and maritime operations in particular). They will also discuss the way ahead on military-related issues raised at the recent Strasbourg-Kehl NATO Summit in April 2009, to include the development of the new Strategic Concept.

Additional meetings will be held in Ukraine format (updating on current progress in military transformation) and, for the first time, in Georgia format (with emphasis on military reform priorities and military cooperation).

For further information:

Nato