Visit from Austria

At the meeting with his Slovak counterpart Martin Glváč, Austrian Federal Minister of Defence Gerald Klug expressed his appreciation of the state-of-the-art CBRN Training and Testing Centre in Zemianske Kostoľany. At this unique centre, which provides training with real toxic and chemical substances, a total of 58 Austrian specialists on toxic chemical substances detection and decontamination have been undergoing drills. “Having visited our troops exercising at Zemianske Kostoľany, I appreciate the professionalism of your specialists and the quality of the training grounds,” remarked Austrian Federal Minister of Defence and Sports Gerald Klug.

“Our training centres and facilities are cutting-edge and we are pleased that foreign partners are interested in using them. Our CBRN troops are recognized experts and I have no doubt that the expertise they will pass on to the Austrian soldiers will be of benefit to them,” said SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč. He also emphasized that members of the Austrian Armed Forces will again participate in the international Toxic Valley 2015 exercise in Slovakia. Austrian troops will also take part in the joint JCET exercise at the Training Centre Lešť on the turn of April and May.

The ministers discussed, among other things, cooperation between Slovakia and Austria in the field of international crisis management.