Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď presents new MOD prospects and priorities to President Zuzana Čaputová

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď met with President of the Slovak Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Slovak Armed Forces Zuzana Čaputová at MOD Main Building today (27 March 2020). On this occasion, he presented the MOD's new prospects and priorities as well as the MOD's options for additional support to the SVK Government in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. In attendance at the meeting was also Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko and the newly appointed State Secretary of the SVK Ministry of Defence, Marian Majer.

President and Commander-in-Chief of the Slovak Armed Forces Zuzana Čaputová appreciated, above all, the priorities of the new MOD leadership, whereas she stressed that high demands need to be placed on transparency and efficiency of defence spending with regard to Armed Forces modernisation. She also highlighted the assistance the SVK MOD and Armed Forces have been providing in this exceptional emergency. "I must note with satisfaction that the Slovak Armed Forces are ready to assist in this complicated situation in which we find ourselves. From all the information I have received, I can conclusively state that the Armed Forces have a very professional approach. For this, I want to say "Thank You" to all members of the Slovak Armed Forces at home and abroad," she said. As well as executing assistance tasks in this exceptional emergency, the Armed Forces carry on delivering the defence and security of Slovakia uninterruptedly, she reminded.

Head of the MOD Jaroslav Naď thanked the President for accepting the invitation to visit the MOD. "I will take every effort to keep Madam President as Commander-in-Chief informed of all the positives and problems occurring across Defence in a prompt, comprehensive and open manner," he said.

On the spread of COVID-19, he praised the Armed Forces' quick and effective assistance response. "We are trying to help across a broad spectrum of activity, ranging from the airlift capability under NATO's SALIS programme to unloading and distributing medical supplies from airport to the central warehouses of the State Material Reserves Administration and on to end users," he said.

During the meeting, both leaders discussed the military medical capabilities and support the defence department can offer. "28 army doctors are already working in civilian hospitals and we still have over 300 medical professionals available. Additionally, we are providing cutting-edge military ambulances in support of the civilian health service," he added.

On the steps to mitigate the spread of coronaviurs, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: "We are working to begin COVID-19 testing within Defence. Starting from Wednesday, we should test 100 people a day, we have capacity for that, and at the beginning of next week we are launching the training of new medics under the Voluntary Military Training project." He further emphasised the MOD has taken delivery of 30,000 FFP3 respirators to be distributed to all SVK Armed Forces personnel.

Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko said: "In response to coronavirus, the Slovak Armed Forces have scaled down their activity. Yet, this move has had no impact on their functioning, nor on their core task. The Armed Forces stand ready with full vitality to undertake all tasks, including domestic and international crisis management ones."