Roundup: NATO defense ministers to carry out decisions agreed at Warsaw Summit

NATO defense ministers will meet to "take stock of progress" in implementing decisions agreed at the Warsaw Summit and "map out the road ahead," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday.

Previewing the ministerial meeting over the next two days, Stoltenberg said the heads of state and government of NATO took a series of decisions to boost deterrence and defense and to project stability in the neighborhood at the July summit.

An agreement of the summit was that NATO will have four multinational battalions in the eastern part of the alliance from early 2017 in a bid to enhance its presence in eastern Europe.

"Tomorrow at our meeting, the nations which are responsible for leading the four different battalions -- Canada, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States -- will set out their plans for the battalions they will lead," Stoltenberg said.

Moreover, NATO defense ministers will take forward plans to strengthen NATO's presence in the Black Sea region, which was approved at the summit, and assess the infrastructure in allied countries to enable rapid movement of NATO forces in Europe.

On the topic of "projecting stability" in the neighborhood, or enhancing capacity-building for partners, he said the alliance was stepping up in the fight against the Islamic State by providing NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft to the coalition.

"I can announce that the first NATO AWACS flight in support of the coalition fighting ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant)took place last week on Oct. 20," Stoltenberg added.

At the first ministerial meeting after Warsaw Summit, NATO will also discuss how to deepen NATO-EU cooperation.

NATO defense ministers will take decisions on a NATO role in the central Mediterranean, which could support the EU's naval operation against people smuggling, Operation Sophia. Endit