Afghanistan as one of central themes at NATO Defence Ministers Meeting in Brussels

The military, security and political situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control of the country was one of the central themes of the NATO Defence Ministers Meeting in Brussels. This marked the first NATO defence ministerial in person format since February 2020.

Of the agenda for today's discussion, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “On Afghanistan, we addressed not only the current developments, but we self-critically and openly talked about the mistakes the Alliance had made there. And as we are NATO, it is up to us to learn our lessons from NATO’s engagement in Afghanistan. Aside from this, we also spoke about the influences, challenges and potential threats to Euro-Atlantic security.” Mr Naď underlined that the stabilisation of the situation in Afghanistan remains the primary goal of all Allies.

Also today, NATO Defence Ministers discussed how to further strengthen the Alliance’s deterrence and defence and how to boost its defence capabilities. Ministers also approved the 2021 NATO Capability Targets. “These targets represent a key element which has a significant impact on the plan and development of SVK defence capacities and capabilities. We are aware of our commitments towards our Allies on burden sharing and we do approach them in a responsible manner,” said Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď.

The ministerial sent out a strong appeal urging all NATO Member States to ensure adequate defence funding and to meet the NATO target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024.

Minister Naď confirmed Slovakia's commitment to standing up a Heavy Mechanised Brigade and updated his partners on the progress being made in delivering the armoured capability procurement plan, which is deemed essential in forming the military unit.