Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď wants to continue Slovakia's intense bilateral engagement with the United States of America

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď gave a warm welcome to the new U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Slovakia, His Excellency Mr Gautam Rana, at the Ministry of Defence in Bratislava, reiterating Slovakia's interest in its continued intense bilateral engagement with the United States of America as our strategic partner on defence and security.

Addressing Euro-Atlantic security, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine with its ramifications for security across the entirety of the Euro-Atlantic area represents a dramatic change of the security landscape. Russiaʼs aggressive actions pose a challenge and a threat to Slovakia and the security of all Allies, while at the same time underpinning the need for more effective international collaboration in bolstering the collective defence of Allies, even in the field of information security.”

High on the agenda of today's meeting between Minister Naď and Ambassador Rana was the modernisation of SVK defence infrastructure and equipment, on which the USA is the key partner for the Slovak Armed Forces. This has been the case, for example, with the SVK F-16 and UH-60M Black Hawk programmes and other procurement projects, or with the $200m in U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grant funding, thanks to which Slovakia will be able to outfit its forces with U.S. defence equipment.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Jaroslav Naď reflected on our shared mission in NATO and the close defence ties between Slovakia and the USA, saying: “Our alliance through NATO means sharing responsibility for our common security, which is why I appreciate the high level of SVK-U.S. bilateral defence cooperation in the long run, and we are ready to keep moving it forward at a very well set pace.”