BRUSSELS, June 6 (Xinhua) -- NATO defense ministers are expected to take decisions on the Alliance's command structure, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference Wednesday.
NATO's defense ministers will meet for the first time at NATO's new headquarters in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to make preparations for the upcoming summit in July.
Stoltenberg announced that he expects a boost of more than 1,200 personnel to be agreed during the ministerial meetings.
NATO's command structure was reduced to fewer than 7,000 staff in seven commands after the end of the Cold War.
Defense ministers have decided to establish two commands to help protect trans-Atlantic sea lines, and support logistics and military mobility within Europe at their last meeting.
"I also expect we will agree that our new joint force command for the Atlantic will be based at Norfolk in the United States, and that our new enabling command will be based in Ulm, in Germany," Stoltenberg said.
Ministers will also discuss military readiness, burden sharing, NATO-EU cooperation, among other topics.
