Defence Minister at NATO NAC: Montenegro ready to remain engaged in Afghanistan together with partners after 2014

Podgorica, Montenegro (23 October 2013) – At the ISAF-format ministerial meeting of NATO’s North Atlantic Council (NAC) in Brussels, Montenegro’s Defence Minister Milica Pejanović-Đurišić reiterated Montenegro’s readiness to remain engaged in Afghanistan, together with other partners-states, even after 2014 and welcomed the document expressing international community’s readiness to long-term support to Afghanistan.

The meeting was chaired by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who noted NATO’s commitment to a successful completion of the ISAF mission by the end of 2014 and stressed a clear determination to remain engaged in Afghanistan after 2014 with the view to strengthening the capacity of Afghanistan’s defence forces.

At the meeting sidelines and during her stay at NATO HQ, Minister Pejanović-Đurišić spoke with SG Rasmussen, Deputy SG Alexander Vershbow, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, and signed a bilateral agreement on defence cooperation with her Lithuanian counterpart.

Montenegro’s Defence Minister took part at the ministerial meeting of the countries contributing to the ISAF Regional Command (RC) North, chaired by German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière, where the participants discussed the current state of affairs and future engagement in the region.