The ministers agreed that progress had been made in the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan, which was conceived at last year's summit in Wales and which envisaged the formation of such a force.
Aside from responding to threats coming from the East, the new force would also be able to respond, in a short period of time, to possible threats from other crisis spots close to NATO borders, such as the Middle East or North Africa.
Croatian Defence Minister Ante Kotromanovic said that Croatia was ready to contribute to this high-readiness force.
France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Great Britain have accepted to be the first countries to participate in the new force, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference at the end of the meeting. The force will be truly multinational, he said, adding that it was a strong signal of solidarity.
The new force will be deployed in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with the headquarters in Poland, and part of it will be deployed in Romania and Bulgaria.