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On May 20 in Chicago, the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of NATO Heads of State and Government approved documents that outline guidelines for further NATO activities in implementing defence commitments and cooperative security, which contribute to safeguarding Alliance members.The Chicago Summit Declaration reflects on the agreement of Alliance members regarding the organisation’s key activities and relations with partners. NATO Heads of State and Government endorsed the decision taken at the previous Summit in Lisbon on the completion of the mission of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. However, it is expected that by mid-2013, the Afghan Government will be in the lead for security nationwide and ISAF will shift from focusing primarily on combat increasingly to the provision of assistance.

After 2014, NATO will have no new combat mission in Afghanistan, but will continue to work towards establishing a mission of a different nature to train, advise and provide political and practical assistance.

It is important for Lithuania that at the Summit, the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States was named as an example of "smart defence" in practice. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia informed about their commitment to enhance their host nation support to the participating Allies. 

The declaration also emphasizes the importance of NATO joint training and exercises, including the “Steadfast Jazz” exercise for the NATO Response Force, which is to be held in the Baltic Sea region in 2013.

The Declaration focuses on relations with partners. It highlights the Alliance’s willingness to strengthen cooperation with countries in North Africa and in the Middle East, on the basis of lessons learned during the operation in Libya. Relations with the partners that aspire to join the Alliance were dealt with separately.

Lithuania has always supported and will always support NATO’s open door policy, which is a tool to create single, secure and stable Europe.

The meeting also adopted a report on NATO activities in the field of energy security, which welcomed the offer to establish a NATO-accredited Energy Security Centre of Excellence in Lithuania as a contribution to NATO’s efforts in this area. 

NATO Heads of State and Government approved the results of NATO Deterrence and Defence Posture Review. At the Lisbon Summit in 2010, they called for a review of NATO’s overall posture in deterring and defending against the full range of threats to the Alliance. The allies assessed nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities that would be available.

It was concluded that NATO was committed to maintaining an appropriate mix of capabilities for deterrence and defence to fulfil its commitments as set out in the Strategic Concept.  The document stressed that the missile defence system would complement, but not replace other (nuclear, conventional) deterrence capabilities.

The document unambiguously states that NATO missile defence is not directed against Russia.

A new element in nuclear policy is that NATO nuclear weapon states (U.S.A., Great Britain, France) have taken up commitments and restrictions on the use of nuclear weapons, also assumed guarantees that would also be applicable to those nuclear capabilities of the countries assigned to NATO.

Possible reduction of NATO nuclear capacity in the future will depend on the results of negotiations with Russia to reduce tactical nuclear weapons and move them from NATO borders.

Lithuania aimed at gaining a possibility for NATO to assess the transfer of sensitive military technology to third countries. It was agreed that the Alliance would monitor military acquisition in the neighbourhood and its impact on the strategic environment.