Minister meets for talks with French Ambassador

The cooperation between Slovakia and the French Republic in the field of defence is at a good level and has the potential to progress further, especially in the area of joint training and education. On this point, SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš and the Ambassador of the French Republic to Slovakia, HE Mr Christophe Leonzi, were in agreement during their first bilateral meeting since the new French Ambassador's assumption of his duties in Slovakia. “Among other things, we discussed the training mission of the V4 countries in the Baltics, under which our troops will be serving in Latvia from April to June 2017. I likewise informed the Ambassador of Slovakia's contribution to EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia, where our Military Police personnel will be operating next year,” noted the head of the MOD.

Topics of discussion included the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) in Slovakia and Slovakia's contribution to Operation EUTM Mali. At the meeting, the Minister of Defence provided information on his current efforts to press on with the work of updating the strategic documents. In connection with the NFIU, he invited France to consider manning any of the available vacancies. The French Ambassador underscored the recent Slovak Defence Industry Day event as well as other activities held under the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union. He expressed special appreciation for the September Informal Meeting of the European Union Defence Ministers.