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LJUBLJANA, Slovenia – Leaders from NATO and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) attended the NATO Military Committee Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia from September 13 to 15, 2019.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) General Tod D. Wolters attended the conference hosted by Chief of the Slovenian General Staff Major General Alenka Ermenc, during which Military Chiefs of Defence from across the Alliance came together to discuss topics including: operations, missions and activities, deterrence and defence of the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO’s warfighting capstone concept and the military as an instrument of power.

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach led the conference with the support of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) General André Lanata and General Wolters.

The Military Committee Conference provides an opportunity to establish a common understanding of recent and challenging developments

“The Military Committee Conference provides an opportunity to establish a common understanding of recent and challenging developments in our constantly evolving security environment, to identify the most important advice for our political leaders,” said General Lanata. “Allied Command Transformation improves permanently its capability process, in order to deliver the most effective and efficient military instrument of power for the Alliance.”

During the meeting, General Wolters briefed the chiefs of defence on the initial concept for the deterrence and defense of the euro-Atlantic area. This concept is “what we need to do to operationalize our NATO military strategy. Its focus is to make sure that we comprehensively look at the European continent in the periphery and look at all the variables that could impact the security disposition,” according to Wolters.

The Military Committee is the senior military authority in NATO and the oldest permanent body after the North Atlantic Council. The committee meets three times per year; twice at NATO Headquarters in Brussels and then once per year in an Allied member country.