Multinational Corps North East | |
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Active | 18 September 1999–present |
Country |
|
Allegiance | North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
HQ | Szczecin, Poland |
Commanders | |
Corps Commander | Lieutenant General Manfred Hoffman (DE) |
Deputy Corps Commander | Brigadier General Krzysztof Król(PL) |
Chief of Staff | Brigadier General Per Orluff Knudsen (DK) |
Multinational Corps Northeast was formed on 18 September 1999 at Szczecin, Poland, which became its headquarters. It evolved from what was for many years the only multinational corps in NATO, Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (LANDJUT) (in its turn, a part of Allied Forces Northern Europe). From 1962 LANDJUT had been responsible for the defence of the Baltic Approaches from a headquarters at Rendsburg, Germany. It comprised the 6th Panzergrenadier Division and the Danish Jutland Division.
A tri-national working group was established following the July 1997 decision that Poland was to be admitted to NATO with the aim of establishing the corps as part of NATO’s Main Defence Forces. Its missions are three-fold: to participate in the collective defence of NATO territory, under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, to contribute to multinational crisis management including peace support operations, and to provide command and control for humanitarian, rescue, and disaster relief operations.
In July 1997, Ministers of Defence of Denmark, Germany and Poland decided to establish a Danish-German-Polish Corps. This Corps was to be named Multinational Corps Northeast with its Headquarters located in Szczecin, Poland. The Headquarters Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (LANDJUT) from Rendsburg in Germany was to form the nucleus of this new command. Ministers of Defence of Denmark, Germany and Poland signed the Corps Convention in 1998, when Poland was not a member of NATO yet, but the date of the country’s accession (12 March 1999) had already been set. On 18 September 1999, the three Framework Nations – Denmark, Germany, Poland – could hoist their flags in the Baltic Barracks, the seat of the Corps in Szczecin. The Corps has significantly developed decisively since that time.