Chairman of the NATO Military Committee delivers keynote address at MARCOMET
General Petr Pavel, the recently appointed Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, participated at the NATO Maritime Commanders’ Meeting (MARCOMET) (1 – 2 July 2015) held in London, United Kingdom. The conference brought together maritime leadership of Allied and Partner Navies and Marine Forces as well as civilian experts to discuss topics such as NATO’s maritime posture, collective maritime responses to the multitude of threats and cooperation between NATO and partners.
In his keynote address, General Pavel stressed the importance of the maritime domain to national prosperity, the key role it plays with regard to transport, communications, energy and trade and highlighted the role NATO maritime forces play in providing assurance to Allies and contributing to the maintenance of freedom of navigation: “Today, our Alliance faces serious threats on both our Eastern and Southern Flanks. Our Standing Naval Forces have played a major role in assuring our Allies following Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine. From the Baltic to the Black Sea, they signal NATO’s resolve, provide effective training, and constantly improve our interoperability. In the Indian Ocean, NATO is involved in tackling piracy through Operation Ocean Shield and in the Mediterranean, Operation Active Endeavour continues to adapt to meet the evolving security challenges” said the Chairman of the Military Committee.
The Chairman also emphasized the important contributions by partners to NATO exercises and operations during his speech. Many NATO partners contribute both people and ships to sail under NATO command and so contribute to preserving peace and stability around the world.
During his participation at the MARCOMET conference General Pavel took the opportunity to highlight NATO’s Future Maritime Posture, stating that “in this new security environment, we need to look beyond our borders. Maritime forces are an essential part of NATO’s collective defence and therefore, they need to be resourced adequately to fulfil our operational and standing commitments”. NATO is implementing the greatest reinforcement of its collective defence since the end of the Cold War and therefore will need to invest more on defence.
On the sidelines of the conference, General Pavel met, among others, with General Jean-Paul Paloméros, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation; Vice Admiral Peter Hudson, Commander Allied Maritime Command; and Mr. Fabrice Laggeri, Executive Director of EU FRONTEX.
While in the United Kingdom, the Chairman also took the opportunity to meet with General Sir Nick Houghton, Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom Armed Forces. General Pavel and General Houghton exchanged views on the currently ongoing UK Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Defence Investment Pledge, implementation of the Readiness Action Plan and strategic communications.