Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď meets with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and V4 partners in Brussels

Meeting in the V4+UK format on the margins of the regular NATO Defence Ministerial meeting in Brussels today (Thursday 16 June 2022), Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď and his counterparts from the Visegrad Group hosted a discussion with UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace. This marked the last meeting of the V4 Ministers of Defence under the Hungarian presidency and the first V4 meeting with the participation of the new Minister of Defence of Hungary, Mr Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky.

The V4 ministerial meeting was dominated by issues relating to the security situation in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the reinforced defence positions on the Alliance's eastern flank, and the expectations of individual countries for the upcoming NATO Summit in Madrid. “It is in our interest to continue to help Ukraine with all ways and means available to us and make sure the conflict will not spill over and grow in intensity. Speaking on behalf of all of us here, let me note that we have a clear and united position on this issue,” Minister Naď said.

At today's meeting, the ministers reflected on the ramifications of Russia's hostilities for the key European regions. “Russiaʼs war against Ukraine underlines the justification for encouraging stronger engagement in the Western Balkans and the need to integrate the countries of the region into the EU. To the Western Balkans countries, we need to show our support on their Euro-Atlantic pathway and take a sincere interest in their European future,” Minister Naď said, adding that he considers helping our Western Balkan partners increase their resilience against the subversive activities of hybrid actors to be an inevitability.

Before wrapping up the meeting, the ministers had a look at the defence events & activities organised under the Hungarian V4 presidency, as Slovakia takes over the rotating presidency from Hungary on 1 July 2022, and Minister Naď detailed the Slovak V4 presidency's priorities for the next year, with a focus on the V4's extended cooperation with Ukraine, joint training and exercises, and closer defence industry ties.