Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
NATO's highest military authority, the Military Committee, will meet on 15 and 16 January 2025 in Brussels. The Chiefs of Defence Staff of the Alliance countries will meet with more than 20 of their counterparts from partner countries. The meeting will be chaired by Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman of the Military Committee, and supported by General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and Admiral Pierre Vandier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT).
The Chiefs of Defence Staff will discuss issues of strategic importance to the Alliance, with a focus on cooperation with partners and unified responses to global challenges.
According to a statement issued by NATO Headquarters in the Belgian capital, a copy of which we received, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will join the Military Committee in the opening session to address the Alliance's key priorities and challenges.
The first session will see Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Cavoli, brief the defence chiefs on NATO's readiness to deter and defend the Euro-Atlantic area and protect the one billion people in the region. The Supreme Allied Commander Europe will also hold broader discussions on NATO’s ongoing missions and on support to Ukraine, including the NATO Security Assistance and Training Programme for Ukraine (NSATU), which has begun to assume responsibilities for supporting Ukraine.

During the second session, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Admiral Vandier will lead a discussion on interoperability by design. In addition, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe will brief the Military Committee on:
NATO’s defence planning process;
The status of the Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC);
The implementation path for a multi-domain alliance by 2030.
In the third and fourth sessions, together with their counterparts from NATO partner nations, the defence chiefs will discuss the various manifestations of global instability around the world.
Exchanges with partners will continue on the second day, with defence chiefs from Allies and partners discussing military cooperation, standardisation and interoperability. This will be followed by thematic sessions on the Global South and the Indo-Pacific, with briefings on the strategic security situation in both regions, regional challenges and their implications for global security. The NATO Military Meetings will conclude with a joint press conference by the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.