MNCNE

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You are an important part of what NATO does in ensuring that we have got Europe whole, free and in peace. You are really at the core of our security.

By General Curtis Scaparotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) 2018

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History


Beginnings

Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast has been operating since 18 September 1999 – the year when Poland joined NATO. The Corps was established by a treaty signed in 1998 by the ministers of defence of Denmark, Germany and Poland. The three countries are the so-called Framework Nations of the Corps. Initially, we operated solely based on the partnership between these Allies from the Baltic Sea region and our fundamental task was to foster trilateral cooperation. The first additional countries to join the Headquarters were Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2004. Since then, our team has gradually grown and now consists of 22 nations.

Transformation

The NATO Wales Summit of 2014 came at a critical time in the Alliance's history. The global security environment took a turn for the worse and revealed to be highly unpredictable. Russia's actions against Ukraine have challenged NATO to increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea area. That is when it was decided that Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast would develop in order to be able to respond promptly to any possible crisis as well as to provide NATO with the capability to command forces deployed to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Thus, in 2017 our combat readiness was upgraded from low to high. Today, we are on permanent stand-by to take the lead in NATO's land operations across the whole Baltic region.  

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Origins

Apart from geographical and military reasons, the corps was also to serve as a political symbol that would significantly accelerate the integration of the Armed Forces of Poland and other new partners into the multinational NATO structure, thus fostering the stability in Europe.

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Missions

MNC NE was contributing successfully to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan for three times. In 2007 Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast operated in combat conditions for the first time. We were part of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Our soldiers served two further tours in Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, in 2010 and 2014. We lost two comrades during these missions.

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Fulfilling the Tasks  

Over the last 20 years, we have become a significant reinforcement of NATO's rapid reaction capability and the key guarantor of peace in the region. In terms of military achievements, Multinational Corps Northeast passed the Full Operational Capability (FOC) test in November 2005. Subsequently, the Corps was officially certified by the North Atlantic Council in 2006 as a NATO Deployable Headquarters.

Following the decisions taken during the NATO Summit in Wales, the Ministers of Defence of the Corps' Framework Nations decided on 4 September 2014 to increase the readiness of MNC NE to High Readiness Forces. The transformation process, which has ended with Combat Readiness Evaluation in Summer of 2017. Since then, MNC NE is certified as a High Readiness Force Headquarters and is on permanent stand-by to take the lead in combat operations across the north-eastern flank of NATO as a Land Component Command.



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Address

Multinational Corps Northeast
Waleriana Łukasińskiego 33
71-215 Szczecin
Poland

Media Operations

Public Affairs Office
Waleriana Łukasińskiego 33
71-215 Szczecin
Poland