Minister Naď meets Dutch Ambassador H. Cor van der Kwast

Today, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď welcomed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, His Excellency Mr Henk Cor van der Kwast, who came to introduce himself in the capacity of Ambassador, to the Ministry of Defence. Topics of discussion included current issues in the field of defence and security, the priorities of the acting MOD leadership, and the modernisation of the SVK Armed Forces.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “Since its entry into the Euro-Atlantic structures, the Slovak Republic has become an active and respected member of the EU as well as of NATO. Thus, a remarkable space was created for furthering cooperation, even in the politico-military area. It is important to fully unlock this potential.” He cited the joint deployments of SVK and Dutch forces as part of international crisis management, their participation in joint international exercises and education and training activities as examples of the successful cooperation between Slovakia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The head of the MOD informed Dutch Ambassador Henk Cor van der Kwast about how Slovakia is delivering on its commitments, including on the deployments of SVK Armed Forces members on international crisis management missions and operations. Additionally, he presented the SVK MOD's goals and priorities and the principles of transparency in Armed Forces modernisation.

During the conversation, Minister Naď underpinned the role of the NATO Force Integration Unit Slovakia (NFIU SVK) and the potential area of cooperation on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defence with live chemical agents, offered by the CBRN Training and Testing Centre Zemianske Kostoľany.