Multinational Corps Northeast

The Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast (HQ MNC NE) in Szczecin, Poland, was established on 18 September 1999. It is one of a total of nine Land Forces Headquarters and thus part of the Armed Forces Structure of NATO.

However, HQ MNC NE is the only headquarters in NATO with a fixed territorial area of responsibility: the northeastern flank of NATO at the borders of Poland and the three Baltic states. The corps staff is made up of personnel of the three lead nations – the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany –as well as of 19 further nations.

A command and control role

During the NATO Summit in Wales 2014, the three founding nations of Denmark, Germany and Poland decided to raise the operational readiness level of the Corps. During a certification exercise that aimed to render it fully operational as a High Readiness Forces headquarters in June 2017, HQ MNC NE was confirmed as a headquarters for rapid response forces.

Hence, the Corps is capable of assuming a command and control role as Land Component Command. The Corps is a NATO command echelon to exercise command and control over land forces – in this case, over up to 5 divisions and 20 support units.

For the personnel in Szczecin, this means maintaining permanent operational readiness to react immediately to any crisis. To this end, the region at the northeastern flank of NATO is monitored on around the clock and seven days a week.