Deputy Defence Minister Majer pays visit to Italy to discuss Ukraine and defence industry support and cooperation

Over the past few days, Deputy Defence Minister Majer has been visiting Italy for a series of meetings with Italy's top defence and security officials – including with Undersecretary of State for Defence Stefania Pucciarelli and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on the Security of the Republic Adolfo Urso. During their separate meetings, they discussed the security situation in Ukraine in view of military aid packages, as well as ways to keep SVK-ITA defence cooperation going from strength to strength.

Deputy Defence Minister Majer's official visit to Italy involved a tour of the Italian Air Force's International Flight Training School (IFTS) at Lecce-Galatina Air Base in southern Italy and a visit to the NATO Defence College (NDC) in Rome, one of NATO's leading training establishments, where Slovak military personnel undertake courses.

As part of his programme in Italy, Deputy Defence Minister Majer also met with representatives of the Italian defence industry on the SVK Government's modernisation priorities for the Slovak Armed Forces. In discussions with representatives of Leonardo, Mr Majer focused on the possible procurement of Italian-made tactical jet trainer aircraft, as well as exploring potential cyber defence and drone solutions. The Slovak leader praised the SVK Air Force's consultations and collaboration with the ITA Air Force on the C-27J Spartan airlifter. Slovakia has a keen interest in continuing this strand of cooperation and sharing expertise on the aircraft's operation and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).

Speaking of the SVK-ITA defence relationship, Deputy Defence Minister Majer said: “We positively assess cooperation between the Slovak and Italian Special Operations Forces (SOF) and that in the fields of military medical services, military education, and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD). Also, we are pleased to see that our members of the Slovak Armed Forces regularly attend courses at the NATO Defence College in Rome.”

Mr Majer commended Italy for having a Defence Attaché accredited to Slovakia, while recognising that this greatly helps improve bilateral engagements. To that end, the SVK MOD will consider setting up a Slovak Defence Attaché Office in Italy.