International Military Staff hosts Bi-annual Meeting with Partners
On 20 November, the Cooperative Security Division of the NATO International Military Staff (IMS) hosted the Bi-annual Meeting with Partners. Participants from 26 NATO Partner Nations and the European Union Military Staff discussed the importance of resilience, opportunities for NATO collaboration with Partners in science and technology, and opportunities for increased coordination between NATO and Partners.
The Director General of the IMS Lieutenant General Janusz Adamczak opened the meeting by emphasizing NATO’s commitment to continuous close cooperation with Partner Nations and Organisations. He stressed that “Partners provide key insights and perspectives on national, regional, and global security challenges.” Noting that Ukraine has been fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion for 1001 days, Lieutenant General Adamczak thanked the Ukrainian delegation for attending the meeting and reaffirmed NATO’s support for Ukraine.
In the following speech, the United States Military Representative Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield expressed her appreciation for the vital role of NATO Partners in strengthening global security. Vice Admiral Chatfield reminded that the global nature of today’s conflicts makes Partners especially important. She also referred to the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington’s historic decisions on enhanced cooperation with NATO Partners.
In his opening remarks, the Director of the IMS Cooperative Security Division, Major General Dacian-Tiberiu Șerban underlined the importance of Partnerships. He thanked the delegations for attending the meeting and stressed that NATO and its Partners mutually benefit from close relationships. “In these dynamic and challenging times, as we face new and more sophisticated threats to our security and defence, NATO and its Partners have much to learn from each other and much to contribute to each other.”
The first part of the Bi-annual meeting focused on NATO efforts to work with Partners on security issues and the importance of resilience in enabling deterrence and defence efforts. The second session showcased opportunities for Partners to collaborate with NATO’s Science and Technology Organization (STO) and how science can enable peace and security. The session ended with a discussion of how NATO and Partners can mitigate and adapt to natural disasters, global warming, and other climate change-related challenges. The last session featured a roundtable discussion between NATO’s IMS and the Partner Military Representatives, where measures to increase coordination and communication between NATO and Partners were discussed.
At the initiative of the IMS, and under the auspices of its Cooperative Security Division, this meeting with Partners is held biannually. It provides an informal setting for a constructive dialogue on Partnerships, military cooperation and other topics of common interest at the military-political level. NATO’s previous Bi-annual Meeting with Partners occurred in February 2024.