MP personnel are back from their successful tour of duty in the Mediterranean, SVK engagement in Op SOPHIA draws to an end

Members of the SVK Military Police who successfully performed their tasks in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the 2nd rotation in support of EUNAVFOR MED Op Sophia II have returned home. A total of 10 MP personnel were today (25 May) welcomed by Director of the SVK Military Police Col Michal Migát at the SNP Museum in Banská Bystrica. As mandated by the SVK Parliament, the deployments of SVK military policemen on Operation Sophia are over for now. Nevertheless, the Slovak military will probably resume the deployment rotations as early as 2020.

Director of the SVK Military Police Col Michal Migát said: “I am immensely proud of our soldiers’successful engagement in EUNAVFOR MED Op Sophia, as well as of the fact that we have contributed to the security of the European Union. I firmly believe we will continue this cooperation with our German partner.”

Having deployed in January 2018, the second rotation of the boarding team, made up two five-member SVK MP teams, served aboard a German Navy vessel and undertook the tasks and duties of EUNAVFOR MED Op Sophia. During the deployment, the boarding team assisted in rescuing over 400 migrants, of whom 41 were women and 9 were children.

The aim of EUNAVFOR MED Op Sophia is to stop human trafficking from African states to Europe in the face of the migration crisis. The Slovak Republic joined its historically first maritime deployment in August 2017. Over the period of the two rotations, MP personnel conducted dozens of rescue operations and inspections of vessels.