30 years on since their establishment on 1 January 1993, Slovak Armed Forces are celebrating a round anniversary of service to their homeland
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- Date: 31.12.2022
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When established on 1 January 1993, the Army of the Slovak Republic (ASR) had 53,000 service members including conscripts. As the Slovak Armed Forces celebrate their 30th anniversary tomorrow, MOD data records the total strength of the fully professional SVK Forces at nearly 15,000.
In his statement, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “Building our statehood has been very substantially supported by the Slovak Armed Forces with their highly responsible approach throughout the entirety of Slovakiaʼs existence. Key to this has been the Armed Forcesʼ clearly pro-democratic orientation – over the past 30 years the Slovak Armed Forces have been the guarantor of the countryʼs pro-Western and pro-democratic direction, while they have performed a variety of roles in managing crisis situations to the highest standards. Looking ahead to the next three decades, I believe our Armed Forces will continue to do professionally, responsibly and pro-actively what they are here for, and, for that, I am sincerely thankful to them.”
Looking back on the past three decades of the Slovak Armed Forces, Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko said: “What lies behind us are three decades of successful work in defending our homeland. Those years have seen transformational change to the Armed Forces, their entry into the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, and military ʼbusiness as usualʼ as well. So, this period has been marked by the adoption of a swathe of strategic decisions. Over the years, we have clearly shown to the public that we are a stable pillar of security and that we are able and capable of giving a helping hand in crisis situations wherever needed. In this significant year celebrating their 30th anniversary, I am greatly honoured to be leading the Slovak Armed Forces and working with genuinely serving military professionals, both in uniform and civilian clothes.”
On maintaining Defence's responsiveness where service personnel are considered to be the most valuable asset of the Slovak Armed Forces, Gen Zmeko said: “Their professionalism, loyalty to the state, ability to make sacrifices to the benefit of SVK national interests and citizens attest to the highest quality of our Armed Forces. This has been especially so over the past three years when, once called into action in crisis situations, Slovak Armed Forces service personnel have been both willing and capable of doing everything expected and required of them by our citizens. For their work, our soldiers have received recognition and mutual cooperation of both sides is a great feeling. We are looking to build on this into the future.”
Recognising that there were cuts to the size of the SVK Forces from 50,000 (conscripts included) to 14,100 between 1993 and 2020 and that service personnel are at the core of what the SVK military does, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď has announced that the MOD is working to see an uplift to the size of the Regular Armed Forces.
Speaking about the increase in manpower requirement, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “We have now managed to increase the number of Regular personnel by a total of 900. They come under the so-called “full-time salaried figures”, in other words, those regulars for whom we have military pay. As has been agreed, I believe, there will be an uplift of 1,000 personnel each year between 2023 and 2024. So this means there will be an increase in service personnel numbers of 20% to 17,000 between 2020 and 2024 – which would be just great! To make that happen, we need quality recruitment. This year alone we have already recruited considerably more soldiers into the military than in the past.”
In his statement, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “Building our statehood has been very substantially supported by the Slovak Armed Forces with their highly responsible approach throughout the entirety of Slovakiaʼs existence. Key to this has been the Armed Forcesʼ clearly pro-democratic orientation – over the past 30 years the Slovak Armed Forces have been the guarantor of the countryʼs pro-Western and pro-democratic direction, while they have performed a variety of roles in managing crisis situations to the highest standards. Looking ahead to the next three decades, I believe our Armed Forces will continue to do professionally, responsibly and pro-actively what they are here for, and, for that, I am sincerely thankful to them.”
Looking back on the past three decades of the Slovak Armed Forces, Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko said: “What lies behind us are three decades of successful work in defending our homeland. Those years have seen transformational change to the Armed Forces, their entry into the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, and military ʼbusiness as usualʼ as well. So, this period has been marked by the adoption of a swathe of strategic decisions. Over the years, we have clearly shown to the public that we are a stable pillar of security and that we are able and capable of giving a helping hand in crisis situations wherever needed. In this significant year celebrating their 30th anniversary, I am greatly honoured to be leading the Slovak Armed Forces and working with genuinely serving military professionals, both in uniform and civilian clothes.”
On maintaining Defence's responsiveness where service personnel are considered to be the most valuable asset of the Slovak Armed Forces, Gen Zmeko said: “Their professionalism, loyalty to the state, ability to make sacrifices to the benefit of SVK national interests and citizens attest to the highest quality of our Armed Forces. This has been especially so over the past three years when, once called into action in crisis situations, Slovak Armed Forces service personnel have been both willing and capable of doing everything expected and required of them by our citizens. For their work, our soldiers have received recognition and mutual cooperation of both sides is a great feeling. We are looking to build on this into the future.”
Recognising that there were cuts to the size of the SVK Forces from 50,000 (conscripts included) to 14,100 between 1993 and 2020 and that service personnel are at the core of what the SVK military does, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď has announced that the MOD is working to see an uplift to the size of the Regular Armed Forces.
Speaking about the increase in manpower requirement, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “We have now managed to increase the number of Regular personnel by a total of 900. They come under the so-called “full-time salaried figures”, in other words, those regulars for whom we have military pay. As has been agreed, I believe, there will be an uplift of 1,000 personnel each year between 2023 and 2024. So this means there will be an increase in service personnel numbers of 20% to 17,000 between 2020 and 2024 – which would be just great! To make that happen, we need quality recruitment. This year alone we have already recruited considerably more soldiers into the military than in the past.”
