Roundup: NATO decides to expand rapid reaction force

Defense ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) decided on Thursday to strengthen NATO's presence in eastern Europe and the Baltic region and expand the size of its rapid reaction force.

NATO defense ministers decided to set up six command and control centers in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said if a crisis arises, the deployment will "ensure that national and NATO forces from across the Alliance are able to act as one from the start."

The defense ministers also agreed to increase the number of NATO's rapid response force to 30,000, which will be led by a Spearhead Force that consists of 5,000 soldiers.

Stoltenberg said the Spearhead Force would be backed up by two more brigades "as a rapid reinforcement capability in case of a major crisis."

The defense ministers also agreed that the Readiness Action Plan, approved at the Wales Summit last year, will strengthen NATO's collective defense and its crisis management capability.

The defense ministers emphasized that they would continue reviewing the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan and take further decisions at coming meetings.

In the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in the afternoon, NATO defense ministers agreed to strengthen the Alliance's collective defense.

The decisions would "ensure that we have the right forces in the right place at the right time," said Stoltenberg.

He also announced that a joint training center in Tbilisi, Georgia was being set up so that NATO troops, Georgian troops and forces from partner nations would train and exercise together. Endit