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Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák meets German Ambassador Barbara Wolf and British Ambassador Nigel Baker at Slovak Defence Ministry

Ministry of Defence of The Slovak Republic

08.11.2023

Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák held separate bilateral meetings with Her Excellency Barbara Wolf, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Slovakia, and, His Excellency Nigel Baker, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Slovakia, at the Slovak Defence Ministry in Bratislava today (7 November 2023). The main themes on the agenda for the talks with the ambassadors of both countries included a deepening of defence ties and NATO's current processes and activities.

During the talks with both ambassadors, Defence Minister Kaliňák appreciated the excellent, long-standing bilateral relations between our countries and governments and confirmed Slovakia's interest in continuing its efforts to enhance them further, saying: "Today, we are facing new challenges and a complex security reality. Shared, goal-oriented visions and strong partnerships in the field of defence and security are, therefore, key to the successful cooperation of our countries."

In a meeting with Ambassador Baker, Minister Kaliňák highlighted UK-SVK defence cooperation so far, including on international military exercises such as Ex Toxic Valley, a CBRN exercise hosted by Slovakia, on joint exercises involving the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Slovak Air Force (SVK AF), and on military education and training programmes.

In his talks with Ambassador Wolf, Minister Kaliňák appreciated the German contribution to the NATO Multinational Battlegroup in Slovakia (NATO MN BG SVK) and Germany's continued interest in the security of NATO's eastern flank - Slovakia's air defences have recently been bolstered by two German-made MANTIS very short range (VSHORAD) air defence systems. Needless to add, Slovakia has received the MANTIS systems from Germany, for free and permanently.

As well as this, Minister Kaliňák updated both heads of the diplomatic missions on Ex Strong Cohesion 23-2 (Deployex23), a military exercise taking place at the Training Centre (TC) Lešť in Central Slovakia, with the participation of NATO MN BG SVK troops and the Spanish Armed Forces. The exercise is designed to integrate the Spanish Contingent into the NATO Battlegroup in Slovakia. Spain is due to take over as Lead Nation (LN) of NATO MN BG SVK from the Czech Republic in the summer of 2024.