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Chief of the General Staff attended NATO Military Committee Conference

On 17 and 18 September, the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, Major General Alojz Šteiner attended NATO Military Committee Conference in Sevilla, Spain. The conference was hosted by the Spanish Chief of Defence, General Julio Rodriguez with a presence of NATO's two Strategic Commanders, Admiral James G. Stavridis (Supreme Allied Commander Europe – SACEUR) and General Stéphane Abrial (Supreme Allied Commander Transformation - SACT). The Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani attended the conference as a guest.

The conference focused on NATO's ongoing operations (mainly on operation ISAF in Afghanistan and operation Unified Protector in Libya), the strategic significance of the “Arab Spring” and its impact on the security environment within NATO, the current transformational and operational challenges, as well as the impact of the acquired operational experiences on the establishment and functioning of the new NATO Command Structure.

The ISAF Commander, General John Allen briefed the participants about the current situation in operation ISAF in Afghanistan, while SACEUR spoke in detail about the transition process and the role of the Alliance after 2014.

General Kayani provided Chiefs of Defence with an insight into operations of the Pakistani Armed Forces in Afghanistan and into Pakistan’s perspective on the situation in the region. Later on, General Abrial presented the current flow of activities regarding the concept of Smart Defence, whose purpose is to use multinational and innovative approaches to maximise the effects of national and allied capability building.

In the final part of the conference, Chiefs of Defence looked at latest lessons learned from the Alliance's ongoing operations, particularly those highlighted as a result of operation Unified Protector in Libya. They assessed how these lessons would influence the work of the Alliance and the establishment of the new NATO Command Structure. NATO’s Chiefs of Defence also elected a new Chairman, NATO Military Committee.

At the conference, General Alojz Šteiner used the opportunity to have bilateral meetings with the Chiefs of Defence of Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia and Lithuania. He also met with the Chiefs of Defence of Albania and Turkey who attended the conference for the first time.

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