Summarizing the achievements of 2008 and setting challenges for 2009 dominated the 34th Corps Committee Meeting, which took place on 14 and 15 January in Baltic Barracks.
The Corps Committee, as a supervisory and advisory body for the Multinational Corps Northeast, meets a few times a year to adequately oversee the Corps’ activities. The Corps Committee is composed of representatives of the Framework Nations, i.e. Denmark, Germany and Poland acting on behalf of their Army Chiefs of Staff (or equivalent). The chairman of the 34th Corps Committee Meeting held in Szczecin was German Colonel Stephan Thomas, whereas two co-chairmen were Brigadier General Anatol Wojtan as the Polish representative and Colonel Lars Møller as the Danish representative. Since the chairmanship rotates on an annual basis, Colonel Thomas handed over this responsibility to the Danish representative shortly before the end of this session.
The 34th Corps Committee Meeting was conducted in parallel to the 5th Plenary session which involved not only members of the Framework Nations, but also the Participating States of the Multinational Corps Northeast.
Highlights of 2008 & 2009
Since the year 2009 marks the Corps’ 10th Anniversary, the celebrations scheduled for September 2009 were thoroughly discussed.
The participants of the Plenary session also had a chance to see the progress of construction of a new multifunctional building within the Baltic Barracks. This building will not only provide additional office space for the HQ, but also an auditorium, which will, for example, be used for conferences, training or exercises.
It is important to mention that the Slovenian representative, Brigadier General David Humar, was a special guest to this Plenary. He announced that Slovenia’s intention is to join MNC NE by summer 2009 and to affiliate a battalion to the MNC NE.
Decisions made
The Plenary was followed by debates conducted among the Framework Nations members only. They discussed numerous points presented by the HQ MNC NE representatives during the Plenary and some additional ones, too. Afterwards, the results of the internal discussion were presented to the Headquarters’ members.
The Corps Committee expressed satisfaction over the development of the Headquarters. Among other things, they approved the Logistic Concept and the Headquarters’ Concept as well as the budget for 2009. Slovenia’s intention to join MNC NE and to affiliate a battalion was greatly appreciated. The last point in the agenda was transferring chairmanship from Colonel Thomas to Danish Colonel Møller.
The next Corps Committee meeting is scheduled for April 2009.
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