State Secretary M. Majer meets Estonian Ambassador T. Kukk
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- Date: 02.06.2020
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State Secretary of the SVK Ministry of Defence Marian Majer today met the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to the Slovak Republic, His Excellency Mr Toomas Kukk. They paid close attention to the priorities of the new MOD leadership and the drafting of new strategic documents. The State Secretary informed the Ambassador about the goal of framing Slovakia's new Defence Strategy and Security Strategy.
The meeting offered an opportunity for exchange of experience from the battle against coronavirus. "Despite the coronavirus restrictions, Slovakia will continue its presence in NATO, EU and UN missions, operations and activities," said State Secretary Marian Majer.
He made a particular note of the mandate approval process for the SVK armed forces deployed on operations supporting NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Latvia. Ambassador Kukk thanked for Slovakia's contribution to eFP, which, according to him, bolsters the security of Estonia.
During the meeting, Marian Majer provided an update on Slovakia's performance of EU and NATO commitments. He confirmed Slovakia's ambition to reach the expenditure target of 2 per cent of GDP on defence by 2024. Ambassador Kukk pointed out that Estonia has, for years, been in the club of the countries that meet the 2 per cent benchmark. Given the fact that threats have not changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, any possible cuts in the Estonian state budget will not see the defence budget fall below the 2 per cent threshold.
Also discussed were the possibilities for deepening the bilateral engagement between Slovakia and Estonia. "We are ready to strengthen our cooperation even in other areas such as defence industry, cyber defence and strategic communications. It applies that Slovakia is open to cooperation and definitely has a lot to offer," concluded State Secretary Majer.
The meeting offered an opportunity for exchange of experience from the battle against coronavirus. "Despite the coronavirus restrictions, Slovakia will continue its presence in NATO, EU and UN missions, operations and activities," said State Secretary Marian Majer.
He made a particular note of the mandate approval process for the SVK armed forces deployed on operations supporting NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Latvia. Ambassador Kukk thanked for Slovakia's contribution to eFP, which, according to him, bolsters the security of Estonia.
During the meeting, Marian Majer provided an update on Slovakia's performance of EU and NATO commitments. He confirmed Slovakia's ambition to reach the expenditure target of 2 per cent of GDP on defence by 2024. Ambassador Kukk pointed out that Estonia has, for years, been in the club of the countries that meet the 2 per cent benchmark. Given the fact that threats have not changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, any possible cuts in the Estonian state budget will not see the defence budget fall below the 2 per cent threshold.
Also discussed were the possibilities for deepening the bilateral engagement between Slovakia and Estonia. "We are ready to strengthen our cooperation even in other areas such as defence industry, cyber defence and strategic communications. It applies that Slovakia is open to cooperation and definitely has a lot to offer," concluded State Secretary Majer.
