"In the long run, it is more sustainable to enable local forces to protect their countries than it is to deploy large numbers of our own troops," Stoltenberg said. "NATO needs to strengthen its ability to advise and assist local forces."
The secretary general added that training local forces should become a "core capability" of the alliance.
NATO needs to build a "responsive ready to go capability, so that we can plan, coordinate and deploy advisory support and training missions faster," Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg also noted that NATO had recently launched training and capacity building initiatives in Georgia, Moldova and Jordan, and would soon begin advising Tunisia on counterterrorism and improving the country’s capacity of its armed forces.
