Upon return from Latvia

149 members of the SVK Armed Forces successfully completed their execution of tasks as part of Task Group Štefánik's training mission in the Baltics. They were welcomed by State Secretary Róbert Ondrejcsák and Chief of Defence Gen Milan Maxim in a homecoming ceremony held at the 13th Mechanised Battalion Levice. In his remarks, Róbert Ondrejcsák said: “Our soldiers carried out an enormous amount of work in the Baltics. It was appreciated not only by our allies in Latvia but also by NATO service personnel.” He went on to add that Slovakia has thus joined other reliable partners in taking security seriously.

For Slovakia, this training mission abroad was the first one to have seen a deployment of up to 150 troops. On the engagement in the Baltics, Gen Maxim said: “Lessons learned from the preparation, deployment and training will be analysed in minute detail and elaborated on because our soldiers will deploy as early as next year to the Baltics, most probably to Latvia.” He also thanked the military professionals, led by Maj Vladimír Moško, for the mission accomplished.

During the training mission, our soldiers took part in two international exercises – Summer Shield 2017 and Saber Strike 2017 – aimed at reinforcing cooperation among NATO Allies. According to their commander, while on their mission the SVK soldiers completed an entire set of assigned tasks. “A huge thank you to all servicemen and servicewomen for their participation, commitment and stamina as well as for their exemplary representation of the SVK Armed Forces. Thanks to this, we have gained, among other things, international prestige,” added Maj Vladimír Moško, Commander Task Force Štefánik.