Minister of Defence in meeting with new US Ambassador

Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš met with the new US Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Adam H. Sterling, to discuss options for co-operation in the field of defence. Topics included defence spending, strategic documents, modernisation, troops on operations in Afghanistan. “We also discussed the joint EU Army, which has now been the subject of various discussions. On this issue, we are in agreement that there should be no duplication of NATO and EU tasks and competences,” said the head of the MOD. Amongst others, he updated the US Ambassador on Slovakia's strategic documents from the MOD's perspective, such as the SVK Government-approved White Paper on Defence of the Slovak Republic and the Defence and Military Strategies of the Slovak Republic. Besides this, the MOD has also been participating in the drafting of the new Security Strategy of the Slovak Republic. The Minister expressed his appreciation for the US contribution to the SVK NFIU and the long-time co-operation between the SVK Armed Forces and the Indiana National Guard.

US Ambassador Sterling acknowledged that the United States wishes to continue fostering this co-operation. Other items on the agenda brought up at the meeting were the joint V4's contribution to the Baltics, the SVK Military Police's involvement in EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean, as well as joint training exercises. Also, there was agreement between the partners in their opinions on the excellent level of co-operation between the SVK Special Forces and the US Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan, including their joint training.