Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď speaks by phone with NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană

The current situation on the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, the measures in place to mitigate the spread of the virus and its impact on NATO's activities were the topics of discussion by Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană in a phone conversation today. Since taking to office, this was the first official contact between the Head of the MOD and the NATO Deputy Secretary General.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď stated: "Slovakia is ready to reaffirm its pro-Atlantic orientation and credibility towards its Allies. Even in this crisis situation, the Alliance represents a truly effective platform for sharing experience and providing help and assistance among Allies. Not only do we have an opportunity to demonstrate the power of a common approach, but we can also use a number of Alliance's options as a response to the pandemic." He further noted that Slovakia has made use of NATO's Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) programme to bring in 54.8 tonnes of medical material from China's Tianjin.

On the COVID-19 pandemic, the Defence Minister and the NATO Deputy Secretary General spoke about its impact on Allied and international operations. Several of them have been scaled down or cancelled as precautionary measures to inhibit the spread of the new coronavirus.

Given the deteriorating situation and the measures in place by individual Member States, the forces to take part in DEFENDER Europe 2020, a large-scale exercise whose focus was supposed to be on Allied movements across Europe, have been reduced in size. Three other linked exercises – SWIFT RESPONSE, SABER STRIKE and DYNAMIC FRONT 2020, with the planned participation of the SVK Armed Forces, have been cancelled.

On NATO operations, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď informed NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană about the review of the planned rotations of SVK troops over the coming period. Accordingly, adjustments will affect NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Latvia, Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in Afghanistan and, probably, NATO Mission Iraq (NMI).

Burden sharing was a topic of discussion, too. Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď assured NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană of Slovakia's commitment to deliver on its pledges. "As long as I act in the capacity of Minister of Defence, my ambition is to meet the promised 2% of GDP on defence as well as all the commitments towards our Allies," he stated, adding that he wishes to see a longstanding, sustainable development of the SVK Armed Forces, and that the fight against the new coronavirus remains the MOD's current No. 1 priority.

In the phone conversation, the Defence Minister underscored the assistance the SVK military have been providing as precautionary measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 disease across Slovakia through several military and civil-military operations. In this context, he pointed to the role of Army medical professionals and service members in testing for COVID-19 across Roma communities, ranging from swab sampling to sample testing in MOD-run testing labs. He also praised the work of service members in performing assistance tasks in an effort to back up the SVK Police Corps and the use of the SVK Air Force's air assets in repatriating SVK citizens and distributing medical material.