On January 14 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas left for Brussels to attend the 180th session of the Military Committee together with NATO leadership and other NATO allies' Chiefs of Defence on January 15-16. The event will be held at the NATO Headquarters and address the Alliance's strategic and international security topics.
On the first day of the meeting Chiefs of Defence will familiarise with the political setting for the upcoming NATO Defence Ministerial in February, discuss NATO's Military Strategy, current and future strategic challenges, deterrence and defence stance and the Readiness Initiative. A meeting with leadership of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan will familiarise participants of the session with its results and prospects of its further development will be discussed.
On the second day the relation between specific Alliance's capabilities and strategic conceptual thinking will be dwelled on, as well as the Common Funded Capability Delivery and prospects of its application. Later NATO leadership and CHODs will be briefed on the security situation in Georgia and the Balkans, discuss Georgia's progress towards NATO membership, and stability measures in the Western Balkans.
The Military Committee will be chaired by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. He will be supported by General Curtis M. Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and General André Lanata, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT).
The Military Committee (MC) is NATO's highest structure of military command subordinate to the North Atlantic Council, Defence Planning Committee and Nuclear Planning Group. It takes strategic-level military decisions and forms military advice to the North Atlantic Council, the political decision-making body.
At the highest level the MC is comprised of NATO countries' Chiefs of Defence while daily activities are carried out by their military representatives. Chiefs of Defence sessions normally take place three times per year, two in Brussels and one - in one of the NATO states on a rotational basis.
For the Media (English) https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_161989.htm
Spokesperson for the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Maj Mindaugas Neimontas
+370 5 278 5091, +370 682 25359, mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
