Minister welcomes soldiers

Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš and Deputy Chief of Defence Lt Gen Pavel Macko attended a homecoming ceremony, held at the Training and Mobilisation Replenishment Base Martin, for 22 SVK Armed Forces service personnel returning from their tours of duty beyond Slovakia's borders. 19 personnel returned from EUFOR ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2 servicemen came back from the Resolute Support in Afghanistan, where they had assisted in training Afghan Air Force personnel, and 1 officer completed his year-long tour of duty with the UNTSO peacekeeping observer mission in the Near East.

The Minister underlined the significance of their service on international operations, thanked them for their exemplary representation of the Armed Forces and Slovakia, and was genuinely pleased they returned home in full strength and safe and sound. In terms of operational deployments, the total number of the Slovak soldiers deployed to EUFOR ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina has so far amounted to 777, including 26 servicewomen. Since 2015, 217 soldiers, including 13 servicewomen, have rotated in and out of the Resolute Support in Afghanistan. And 35 SVK Armed Forces personnel have completed deployments to the UN-led UNTSO observer mission in the Near East to date.