NATO headquarters

Flag of NATO

Plastic of the NATO star and flags in front of the old headquarters

The NATO headquarters is the seat of the political and top military leadership of NATO in Brussels . It is to be distinguished from subordinate headquarters of NATO, such as the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), also located near Brussels .

Headquarters headquarters

Historical places of work

NATO's political headquarters were in London from 1949 to 1952 . From April 1952 to 1967 the headquarters were in Paris, initially in the Palais de Chaillot , later in a building built for NATO, which is now used by the Paris-Dauphine University .

After France left the military structures of NATO, the headquarters moved to Brussels in 1967.

New building in Brussels

The new NATO headquarters

After a contract for a new building was signed with Belgium in 2002 , the headquarters north of Boulevard Léopold III / Leopold III Laan was rebuilt on the former airfield of Melsbroek. This was declared open on May 25, 2017, handed over to NATO by the Belgian state and put into operation in 2018.

NATO institutions at headquarters

Around 4,000 full-time employees are employed at the headquarters (as of 2016). Half of these forces are deployed from the member states as civilian and military representatives. 300 of the full-time staff work in the permanent missions of the member states, around 1000 on the international staff and other NATO agencies within headquarters and 500 on the international military staff.

NATO Secretary General

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

The NATO Secretary General is the top civilian officer and the highest representative of NATO. He is responsible for the decision-making processes in NATO and for the implementation of the decisions. He chairs the North Atlantic Council , the Nuclear Planning Group , the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the NATO-Russia Council . He is also the head of the international staff.

International staff

The International Staff (IS) is the working and advisory staff of the top leadership of NATO and works to the Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council. He develops plans and concepts, writes speeches and supports the permanent representations of the member states. His relatives are employed by NATO or provided by the nations.

The core of the IS is made up of seven departments:

Political Affairs and Security Policy Division
Defense Policy and Planning Division
Operations Division
Defense Investment Division
Emerging Security Challenges Division
Public Diplomacy Division
Executive Management Division

Other elements are:

the private office, the secretary general's staff
the NATO Office of Security
the NATO Office of Resources

International military staff

The International Military Staff (IMS) is the military working and advisory staff of the top leadership of NATO and works with the Secretary General, the NATO Military Committee and its chairman. He develops plans and concepts, writes speeches and supports the permanent military representations of the member states. His relatives are provided by the nations.

The IMS is led by a three-star general or admiral as Director General (DGIMS). The staff includes twelve other generals and admirals who lead the various work units of the IMS. The core is formed by five departments, each headed by an officer at the two-star level:

Intelligence (INT) Division
Operations and Plans (O&P) Division
Policy and Capabilities (P&C) Division
Cooperative Security (CS) Division
Logistics and Resources (L&R) Division

Further elements of the IMS are:

NATO Headquarters C3 Staff (NHQC3S), a staff of the IMS and IS, advises on issues of command control and consultation, i.e. on leadership issues;
NATO Situation Center (SITCEN), the NATO situation center
NATO Standardization Office (NSO), responsible for standardization in NATO (see also STANAG )

NATO bodies

The essential decisions of NATO are made according to the principle of unanimity in bodies in which the nations are represented. Over 5000 meetings of various councils and committees take place each year.

Meeting of the NATO Military Committee at Chief of Staff level

The supreme body is the North Atlantic Council. There are two committees called Principal Committees:

the nuclear planning group (NPG)
the Military Committee (MC)

A third Principal Committee was the Defense Planning Committee (DPC), whose tasks were taken over by the North Atlantic Council in 2011.

In addition to the Principal Committees, there are a number of other committees that work directly with the North Atlantic Council and are known as Committees reporting to the North Atlantic Council, including:

Deputies Committee
Political Committee
Partnerships and Cooperative Security Committee
Defense Policy and Planning Committee
Committee on Proliferation
C3 board
Operations Policy Committee
High Level Task Force on Conventional Arms Control n Verification Coordinating Committee
Conference of National Armaments Directors
Committee for Standardization
Logistics Committee
Resource Policy and Planning Board
Air and Missile Defense Committee
Aviation Committee
Civil Emergency Planning Committee
Committee on Public Diplomacy
Council Operations and Exercises Committee
Security Committee
Civilian Intelligence Committee
Archives Committee

To support cooperation, partnership and dialogue with non-members also exist

the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
the NATO-Russia Council
the NATO-Ukraine Commission
the NATO-Georgia Commission

Some of these bodies have their own sub-committees and working groups.

National representations

The national missions represent the interests of the nations at NATO and participate in decision-making. They are known as the National Delegation to NATO and are supported by the IS and the IMS. The working units of the diplomatic and military representation can be separate organizations or form a common representation.

Diplomatic missions

The member states of NATO and nations belonging to the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council maintain a permanent mission with the status of an embassy . Its leader has the title of ambassador and is referred to in NATO as a Permanent Representative (PERMREP). The PERMREPs form the North Atlantic Council, unless it meets at the level of ministers or heads of state or government.

Military representations

The respective top military command of the nations represented at NATO, in Germany the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr , sends a representative known as the Military Representative (MILREP). With a few exceptions, this task is performed by generals and admirals on the three-star level. The MILREPs form the military committee if it does not meet at the level of the chiefs of staff.