Fully fledged NATO members

At the invitation of Chief of the General Staff of the SVK Armed Forces Lt Gen Milan Maxim, General Denis Mercier, Supreme Allied Com-mander Transformation (SACT), paid a visit to the Slovak Republic for the first time since assuming his duties of SACT. During the meeting, Gen Mercier and Lt Gen Maxim agreed on the need to transform NATO on the grounds of the current security threats at NATO’s borders. Also discussed was Slovakia’s contribution to the Smart Defence concept and the success-ful certification of the NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence (EOD COE) in Trenčín. The new challenges of the trans-formation process include establishing the NATO Force Integration Units (NFIUs) in 8 NATO countries and developing the NATO Very High Joint Readiness Task Force (VJTF).