Syria, int’l security on NATO Defence Ministerial agenda

PanARMENIAN.Net - Improving capabilities, progress in Afghanistan and NATO-Russia cooperation will top the agenda of this week’s two-day NATO Defence Ministerial which starts on Tuesday (October 22), NATO official website said.

The first working session will be devoted to capabilities and take stock of efforts to improve them. The Defence Ministers will also discuss cyber defence, NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defence system and review NATO reforms. The ministers will also assess progress made in the over 20 Smart Defence projects launched at the Chicago Summit last year. A second working session on Tuesday will consider the next step in the Alliance’s Connected Forces Initiative, with a focus on NATO’s training, education, and exercises programme after the completion of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan in 2014.

A NATO-Russia Council will start off the second day of the ministerial on Wednesday. The Council is to focus on ways to build on the positive practical military and defence cooperation achieved so far. The NATO ministers, with Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu, will also discuss pressing international security issues, including Syria. A meeting of defence ministers from NATO and partner countries which contribute to the ISAF mission will wrap up the ministerial. The Afghan Defence Minister Bismullah Mohammadi Khan, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and the UN Secretary General’s Special representative Jan Kubis are expected to attend.