Chicago: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) 2-day summit opened in Chicago today amidst 'anti-NATO' protests.
The Summit will take crucial decisions on the NATO-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan, the question of how to maintain and improve defence and security capabilities through difficult economic times, and NATO’s relationship with its global partners.
Key to the NATO Summit will be decisions on Afghanistan. The Afghan National Security Forces are progressively taking over responsibility for keeping their country secure. As agreed at NATO’s last summit in Lisbon in November 2010, transition is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.
In Chicago, NATO and partner countries in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are to set out how they will make sure the transition process succeeds, and what kind of assistance they will offer once it is completed.
NATO and ISAF partners, together with the Afghan Government, will discuss a follow-on mission in Afghanistan that is likely to focus on the provision of training, advice and assistance to the Afghan forces once the current mission comes to end. They will also discuss how to contribute to the financing of the the Afghan National Security Forces as part of a broad international effort.
NATO heads of state and government are also expected to take critical decisions on improving the way Allies maintain and develop their military capabilities, to make sure that NATO remains capable of dealing with any security challenge.