Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš visits Sarajevo for talks with Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marina Pendeš

On his official visit to Sarajevo today (6 December), Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš met with Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marina Pendeš for talks on the SVK deployment on Op EUFOR ALTHEA and the potential areas of cooperation on training and education between the SVK and BiH Armed Forces.

 
Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš said: “The Western Balkans region is among the priorities of Slovak foreign policy. This has been evidenced by the deployment of SVK soldiers on Op EUFOR ALTHEA.” He expressed his conviction that the Euro-Atlantic community offers good prospects for the security and stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “We are ready to share our expertise on education and training and help this country on the road to building a stable and peaceful environment,” he added. 

Head of the SVK MOD underlined Slovakia’s role as Lead Nation for the LOT (Liaison and Observation Team) Coordination Centre (LCC). “At present 41 SVK personnel are posted to Op EUFOR ALTHEA and NATO HQ Sarajevo. We are planning to strengthen our contribution by another two servicemen with effect from April 2019, to conduct reconnaissance and intelligence missions as we declared at the informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Vienna. This will not be about increasing our troop levels on the ground but about changing the structure of our contribution in line with the current requirements,” he added.  
 
During the bilateral meeting, the ministers agreed on the need to update the SVK-BiH defence cooperation agreement, to reflect today’s areas of cooperation. “We need to work on the stability of Europe together. And that is why the cooperation between our Armed Forces is of great importance,” said Minister of Defence Marina Pendeš.
 
Minister Gajdoš also met with Maj Gen Martin Dorfer (AUS), Commander EUFOR ALTHEA, who appreciated the work of SVK personnel in support of Op EUFOR ALTHEA. In the afternoon, he will have an office call with Brig Gen Marti J. Bissell (USA), Commander and Senior Military Representative at NATO Headquarters Sarajevo.