Minister Naď meets French Ambassador Léonzi for talks on current issues of security and defence, including on Armed Forces modernisation

Today’s meeting between Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď and the Ambassador of the French Republic to Slovakia, His Excellency Mr Christophe Léonzi, was dedicated to current issues of the SVK-FRA politico-military engagement. As part of the talks, there was room to discuss Slovakia’s EU and NATO commitments and the modernisation programmes of the Slovak Armed Forces, including the procurement of new radar systems.

On COVID-19 operations by the SVK military, Minister Naď updated Ambassador Léonzi on the preparation and conduct of Op Shared Responsibility, giving details of its organisation, including on many different aspects of logistics, material and personnel. “With our Allies, we are ready to share the experience we’ve gained throughout this civil-military operation across Slovakia. As a matter of fact, we all have one common enemy in the fight against the pandemic,” said Minister Naď.

Another portion of the discussion concerned the procurement of new 3D radar systems to enter service with the SVK Air Force. Ambassador Léonzi was informed that the Tender Evaluation Panel (TEP), composed of subject matter experts in Defence, had completed the evaluation of the bidders’ written guarantee for the SVK defence industry’s role in the implementation of this modernisation programme, as requested by the MOD.

The talks also touched on the SVK deployments on international crisis management missions and operations. In that spirit, Minister Naď highlighted the SVK Government-approved military deployments to the EU Training Mission (EUTM) in Mali, the EUTM in the Central African Republic, and on Op EUNAVFOR MED Irini. Attention was also paid to our defence engagement with the European Union, especially as part of the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), as well as to other initiatives.