NATO eyes new command structure

By Ilker Girit

ISTANBUL (AA) - NATO’s secretary-general on Wednesday pledged the military bloc would improve its command structure to tackle modern threats.

Speaking at a briefing ahead of a two-day defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Jens Stoltenberg said current structures established at the end of the Cold War were not fit today.

"It has evolved through the decades, to reflect changing security conditions. And it must continue to evolve to remain robust, agile and fully fit for purpose," he said.

Stoltenberg said new structures should assign the "right forces to right places, with the right equipment at the right time".

Defense ministers are to agree an outline design for a new structure on Wednesday. Stoltenberg said NATO also needed to update its "military requirements for civilian infrastructures, such as roads, railways, and airports".

The NATO chief said new areas, such as cybersecurity, will also be included to the new structure.

Stoltenberg told a cyber security conference in Belgium last month: "Cyber-attacks are serious. They have the potential to undermine NATO’s missions around the world and to hamper our ability to deliver collective defense.

"That is why cyber defense is a top priority for NATO and for NATO allies.”

In September, EU defense ministers, as well as diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini and Stoltenberg also took part in a cyber-attack readiness exercise in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

Stoltenberg said there had been a 60 percent increase in the number of cyber-attacks against the alliance’s networks last year.

He added that the location of the new command has not been determined; NATO members will decide later on this.