"Operation in Afghanistan will be challenging, but also a natural step in the process of operational development of our Corps" – said Lieutenant General Egon Ramms the Commander of HQ MNC NE, during the one-day conference in Warsaw dedicated to "NATO Operation in Afghanistan."
Headquarters Multinational Northeast together with Polish non-governmental organization Euro-Atlantic Association organized the seminar for discussing the complexity of Afghanistan mission. The conference was a great occasion for initiating a good discussion forum as well as presenting the broad view of current situation in Afghanistan by different experts. Among honored guests the seminar was graced with the presence of: Mr Radoslaw Sikorski, Polish Minister of Defense, Yusuf Nuristani, First Deputy Minister of Defense from Afghanistan, Mr Adam Kobieracki, Assistant Secretary General for Operations from NATO HQ, Mr Renatas Norkus, Undersecretary for Defense Policy and International Relations in Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.
The first part of the conference mainly focused on the presentation of the actual condition of Afghanistan as well as presenting a resume of all NATO achievements in that country. Especially, the briefing of Mr Yusuf Nuristani on "NATO support for Afghanistan" gave a fresh view on Afghan political situation and emphasized the need to keep Afghanistan as an issue of international concern. Furthermore, Mr Adam Kobieracki gave a comprehensive presentation on "NATO’s new assignment in Afghanistan", trying to justify the importance of ISAF operation for the alliance and in its transformational process. All experts agreed that the operation in Afghanistan will be very complex and demanding a well-planed preparation phase. For that point Lieutenant General Egon Ramms together with Colonel Rolf Wagner and Colonel Jerzy Fela gave a wide presentations, which described the status of "Preparation of Multinational Corps Northeast to ISAF deployment", focusing on different aspects of predeployment challenges.
During the short break all experts and briefers were invited for the press conference to give a public statement on discussed issues.
After the lunchtime, the participants mainly talked about the operational aspects of the ISAF operation, and took the opportunity to present their own experiences from Afghanistan mission and reflections from the seminar. Undoubtedly, the discussion over the Afghanistan did not cover all affairs and many of them will stay unsolved during the next couple of weeks.
