Brunssum, the Netherlands - From 16 to 18 April General Riccardo Marchiò, JFC Commander, was in Poland for an initial visit to Multinational Corps North-East (MNCNE) in Szczecin, and Multinational Division North East (MNDNE) Headquarters in Elbląg.
At MNCE-NE, the JFC Commander was welcomed by Lieutenant General Manfred Hofmann and they discussed the envolving security environment in the baltic region and how MNC-NE coordinates activities of the newly established structures (enhanced Forwarded Presence (eFP), NFIUs) while operating at the highest level of readiness: "You perform your role perfectly. You have made a great effort to integrate all the elements that come from the different parts of the Alliance. You are a very strong element providing security for the members of NATO in the East.” said General Marchiò.
The JFC Commander also emphasized the Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast role, that he considers a key pillar of the eFP command and control structure on NATO’s north-eastern flank.
While in MND-NE General Marchiò met Brigadier General Krzysztof Motacki, the MND-NE Commander,and was briefed on tasks accomplished by the Division Headquarters from the achievement of Initial Operational Capability (IOC) and the next steps to achieve the Full Operational Capability (FOC), planned for the end of this year.
General Marchiò thanked MND-NE staff for their work since the creation of Divisional Headquarters stating:
‘I think this is a great result that you already reached and I’m confident that by the end of the year, when you will participate in the certification exercise Anakonda 2018, this success will be complete. This is not the final point, it’s just the starting point for you, so You will continue the hard work to provide the security in this part of the Alliance territory. He also stressed that - together we’ll do something important, very useful for our Alliance. As I say to my people in Brunssum, we have to work together because we are stronger together.’
Story by JFC Brunssum Public Affairs Office