On Thursday, the head of the Ministry of National Defense took part in the ceremony of the full operation capability certification of the Multinational Division North East and the briefing summarizing the Anakonda 18 exercise.

President Andrzej Duda took part in the ceremony. Representatives of the diplomatic corps and US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher were present.

- Anaconda is a complex exercise and a big challenge. It was held for the first time not only in Poland, but also in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The challenge that NATO soldiers managed to meet. Our troops, allied troops proved that they are effective, that they can cooperate with each other. They proved their solidarity and mutual concern for joint security - the head of the National Defense Ministry said about the exercise.

The recognition for Polish soldiers and allied troops was also expressed by President Andrzej Duda, who congratulated everyone involved in the process of creation and certification of the Multinational Division North-East:

- The excellent certification score obtained confirms not only your hard work and organizational skills, but also shows great commitment and is certainly a source of great satisfaction - he said.

Summing up the Anakonda 18 exercise and the certification, the Operational Commander Major General Tomasz Piotrowski, in turn, drew attention to the fact that the exercise was the biggest test of recent years not only for the Polish Army, but also for the Alliance command structures: - We demonstrated our readiness to defend and emphasized our unity and cohesion. It was also an opportunity to certify the Division in Elbląg - said the Operational Commander.

- We can have a common satisfaction that the resolutions of the NATO Summit in Warsaw from 2016 are being implemented, that today the certified Multinational Division North - East has started its operation. Congratulations to the Division Commander, Chief of Staff of the Division, I congratulate all commanders, soldiers. They proved their efficiency, their military knowledge, their commitment to being a very important pillar of security on the NATO eastern flank - said Minister Blaszczak during the ceremony.

During the ceremony in Elbląg at the request of the defense minister appointed by the President of Poland for the rank of Major General was Brig. Gen. Krzysztof Motacki - commander of the Multinational Division North-East. Colonel Piotr Malinowski - Chief of Staff of the Multinational Division North-East and Colonel Dariusz Żuchowski - Deputy Chief of Staff for Support of the Multinational Corps North-East were nominated for the rank of brigadier general.

The Minister of National Defense and the Operational Commander of the Polish Armed Forces gave the soldiers participating in the Anakonda 18 exercise commemorative plaques.

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One of the most important elements of the Anakonda 18 exercise was the process of certification of the Multinational Division North-East (MND-NE) command capability according to the Allied Combat Readiness Assessment Standards (CREVAL), conducted by the International Certification Team.

On November 26, the soldiers of the Multinational Division North-East began their participation in the second stage of the Anakonda 18 exercise, during which certification took place. Positive evaluation is connected with transferring the division into the subordination of the Multinational Corps North-East in Szczecin.

Anaconda 18 is an international exercise, in which besides soldiers of the Polish Army were involved soldiers from the USA, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as well as troops stationed in Poland under the eFP. About 12,500 soldiers practiced on the training ground in Poland and on the Baltic Sea basin, and nearly 5,000 soldiers for the first time in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The exercise was aimed at integrating national, allied and coalition command structures and units and achieving the capability to conduct a strategic defense operation.