SVK CHOD attends EU Military Committee meeting at CHODs level in Brussels

SVK Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko participated in the regular meeting of the EU Military Committee (EUMC) at the level of EU CHODs in Brussels on Thursday 9 July 2020. The meeting was opened by HR/VP Josep Borrell's address, where he underlined the contribution of EU armed forces to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by a presentation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) on the political guidance known as the Strategic Compass and the tasks of the military community in the process of its finalisation.

The EU's ongoing CSDP missions and operations were at the core of the meeting. Slovakia declared its active interest in supporting Op EUNAVFOR MED IRINI by posting a SVK Army officer to its command staff. After an informal meeting with DEU CHOD Gen Eberhard Zorn, the German partner confirmed the SVK Boarding Team's participation in Op IRINI on a German Navy frigate to be deployed to the Mediterranean in the spring of 2021.

As part of the discussion on Op ALTHEA, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach emphasised the significance of EU-NATO cooperation on Op ALTHEA, Military Mobility, and the fight against cyber and hybrid threats. Gen Zmeko declared support for Ukraine's initiative to participate in Op ALTHEA.

The second part of the meeting saw presentations on the ongoing EU training missions – EUTM Somalia, EUTM RCA and EUTM Mali. The EU's training missions have been scaled back due to the epidemiological measures in place in the countries. Gen Zmeko briefed on the SVK Armed Forces' intention to send, depending on the developing COVID-19 situation, SVK troops to two EUTMs: “The Slovak Republic is aware of the seriousness of the situation on the African continent and wants to contribute to common efforts to improve it. Towards this end, we intend to contribute to EUTM Mali and EUTM RCA, starting from October 2020.”

At the end of the meeting, EU CHODs adopted the official EUMC conclusions to guide further steps on EU missions and operations, EU-NATO cooperation, and strategic discussions.