BRUSSELS
NATO will get prepared for new possible threats with great military exercises after the transition of the country to full Afghan security responsibility.
"Over the last decade, in Afghanistan, Kosovo and other operations, our servicemen and women have learned to work together more closely than ever before. The challenge we will face over the coming decade is to preserve and pass on those skills, as our biggest operation comes closer to completion," Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
As part of the initiative, defense ministers of NATO agreed that the Alliance should hold a major live exercise in 2015, and draw up a comprehensive programme of training and exercises for the period 2015-2020 under the name of Connected Forces Initiative.
The ministers also agreed that the NATO Response Force (NRF) would be at the core of the initiative. The NRF is the Alliance's rapid-reaction corps, which is prepared and validated through an annual cycle of training and exercises.
"This will make the NATO Response Force a cooperation school, as well as a quick-reaction tool. An immediate resource, but also an investment in the future," he said.
