Multinational CIMIC Group: Minister Trenta Visits the NATO Unit

Motta di Livenza 20 March 2019

Defence Minister Elisabetta Trenta visits Motta di Livenza for the presentation of NATO exercise “Double River 2019”, the training activity organized by the Multinational CIMIC Group

​"The Multinational CIMIC Group is the only training entity dedicated to the CIMIC function within the framework of the Italian Defence Ministry. It has become an established reference point at both the national and NATO level due to the very high level of competence and professionality of its personnel".

Minister Trenta made this statement on the occasion of her visit to the Multinational CIMIC Group, where she will meet CIMIC personnel and witness the implementation of exercise "Double River 2019". Specialized personnel, experts and mentors from various NATO EU and US headquarters will take part in the exercise, to be held today and tomorrow at the Mario Fiore Barracks, in Motta di Livenza.

In greeting the international contingents from Italy, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia , the Minister dwelled on the importance of CIMIC (Civil-Military Cooperation) activities. Once mainly associated with the Post-Conflict and Stability and Reconstruction phases, today the CIMIC function is fundamental in facilitating, promoting and maintaining the best possible level of cooperation between the military component and all non-military actors.

"Today we know that we must interact with all the civilian actors engaged in conflicts, starting from local authorities and including International Organizations, governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as the media, in order to avail ourselves of the best possible level of knowledge, and for a constant assessment of the social and cultural environment where we are operating".

In her speech, the Minister recalled the results achieved in the last few years in various theatres, including Kosovo, Lebanon, Somalia, Djibouti, Afghanistan, and also within the framework of European mission EUNAVFORMED. Looking to the future and to challenges that NATO – that this year is celebrating its 70th anniversary- will have to face, Minister Trenta said: "Tomorrow's NATO will have to be able to operate over the full range of possible threats, whatever their nature and geographic origin".

"Within the framework of the Alliance – she added- Italy strongly supports the need for NATO to be able to watch over and intervene to tackle the full spectrum of risks, thus protecting also our national priority interests. That is one of the reasons why we have insisted that Naples NATO Headquarters become a "hub" for activities to be implemented in the Mediterranean area".

The Minister then followed some phases of Double River 2019: "An excellent ability in interpreting and finding a solution to the new challenges that we all have to face in the future, in conducting military operations, emerged from the very beginning". She then met with the Italian personnel of the Multinational CIMIC Group:

"If this has become a center of excellence and reference point at both the national and NATO level, that is due to the very high competence and professionality of its personnel. Today I want to thank you because your work is a unique asset within the framework of the Defence".

The Multinational CIMIC Group is a NATO multinational contingent under Italian lead, able to able to select, train and deploy specialized rescue and reconstruction units in conflict-affected areas. CIMIC is the acronym for Civil-MIlitary Cooperation, an operative function dealing with the interaction between military forces and civilian components present in areas of crisis. It is the operational unit of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe-Mons, (Belgium), for the conduct of joint and combined operations in the sensitive sector of civil-military cooperation. Moreover, it represents a fundamental training center for the CIMIC function, the only one in Italy, which also serves our Allies.

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Source: Multinational CIMIC Group

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