P. Gajdoš: Slovak V4 Presidency has brought several successes in the field of security and defence
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- Date: 10.06.2019
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Over the past year the Slovak V4 Presidency has brought several successes in the field of security and defence, both at the level of regional and global cooperation. The V4 Defence Ministers agreed on this during their final meeting held under the aegis of the Slovak V4 Presidency in Piešťany today (10 June 2019). In a separate meeting also today, the V4 Defence Ministers were joined by their partners from the Central European Defence Cooperation.
On the Slovak V4 Presidency, Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš said: “Slovakia, as the V4 Presidency holder, has not only continued with the ongoing initiatives and projects, but it has also used the potential of this partnership beyond the existing scope of cooperation. «Dynamic Visegrad for Europe» has been our motto and I dare say we have managed to fulfil this goal.”
The Visegrad Group has recorded a number of successes, such as the high readiness of its flagship project – V4 EU Battlegroup, to be on standby starting from 1 July 2019, the V4 Defence Ministers Meeting + France and Germany (V4 + FRA + DEU), and a novelty in the field of education and training – the Visegrad Military Medicine Conference (VIMIMED) 2019. Those results are reinforced by the fact that the SVK MOD has organised a total of 24 events over the period.
The contribution of the Slovak leadership was recognised by Czech Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar, as the CZE MOD takes over the V4 Presidency on 1 July 2019. Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar said:“First and foremost, I want to thank Peter Gajdoš for the successful Slovak Presidency. After taking over the relay baton, we want to be equally successful and equally active.” Minister Metnar then outlined the Czech V4 priorities for the coming year. Among them is to continue with the V4 + FRA + DEU project, launched by the SVK V4 Presidency, and host the V4 + UK meeting.
After taking stock of the Slovak V4 Presidency achievements, partners paid special attention to current EU and NATO defence initiatives. In this connection, they took note of the progress made in individual projects of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and discussed their participation in international crisis management missions and operations and closer coordination of national positions on EU and NATO initiatives. The Joint Communiqué by V4 Ministers of Defence, reflecting the V4’s year-long efforts and outcomes, was adopted at the conclusion of the meeting.
Along with the V4 Presidency, Slovakia has held the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) Presidency. As a result, V4 delegates were joined by their CEDC colleagues from Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. During the CEDC meeting, they reviewed the current state of play of their joint CEDC PESCO project – CBRN Surveillance as a Service and paid special attention to the preparations for the joint CEDC exercise COOPSEC 2019, on which Slovakia will deploy members of the SVK Armed Forces as well as experts of the SVK Police Corps and the SVK Ministry of Interior. Representatives of the 7-member CEDC format also spoke about international security in relation to illegal migration along the Western Balkan route, the support for the Western Balkans and its integration efforts, and the importance of international missions and operations in the region, with focus on continuity of the executive mandate of Op EUFOR Althea. Finally, the Joint Declaration by CEDC Ministers of Defence was adopted at the end of the meeting.
On the Slovak V4 Presidency, Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš said: “Slovakia, as the V4 Presidency holder, has not only continued with the ongoing initiatives and projects, but it has also used the potential of this partnership beyond the existing scope of cooperation. «Dynamic Visegrad for Europe» has been our motto and I dare say we have managed to fulfil this goal.”
The Visegrad Group has recorded a number of successes, such as the high readiness of its flagship project – V4 EU Battlegroup, to be on standby starting from 1 July 2019, the V4 Defence Ministers Meeting + France and Germany (V4 + FRA + DEU), and a novelty in the field of education and training – the Visegrad Military Medicine Conference (VIMIMED) 2019. Those results are reinforced by the fact that the SVK MOD has organised a total of 24 events over the period.
The contribution of the Slovak leadership was recognised by Czech Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar, as the CZE MOD takes over the V4 Presidency on 1 July 2019. Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar said:“First and foremost, I want to thank Peter Gajdoš for the successful Slovak Presidency. After taking over the relay baton, we want to be equally successful and equally active.” Minister Metnar then outlined the Czech V4 priorities for the coming year. Among them is to continue with the V4 + FRA + DEU project, launched by the SVK V4 Presidency, and host the V4 + UK meeting.
After taking stock of the Slovak V4 Presidency achievements, partners paid special attention to current EU and NATO defence initiatives. In this connection, they took note of the progress made in individual projects of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and discussed their participation in international crisis management missions and operations and closer coordination of national positions on EU and NATO initiatives. The Joint Communiqué by V4 Ministers of Defence, reflecting the V4’s year-long efforts and outcomes, was adopted at the conclusion of the meeting.
Along with the V4 Presidency, Slovakia has held the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) Presidency. As a result, V4 delegates were joined by their CEDC colleagues from Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. During the CEDC meeting, they reviewed the current state of play of their joint CEDC PESCO project – CBRN Surveillance as a Service and paid special attention to the preparations for the joint CEDC exercise COOPSEC 2019, on which Slovakia will deploy members of the SVK Armed Forces as well as experts of the SVK Police Corps and the SVK Ministry of Interior. Representatives of the 7-member CEDC format also spoke about international security in relation to illegal migration along the Western Balkan route, the support for the Western Balkans and its integration efforts, and the importance of international missions and operations in the region, with focus on continuity of the executive mandate of Op EUFOR Althea. Finally, the Joint Declaration by CEDC Ministers of Defence was adopted at the end of the meeting.
