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Slovak and Spanish Defence Ministers Robert Kaliňák and Margarita Robles Fernández visit NATO Battlegroup troops at MTC Lešť

Ministry of Defence of The Slovak Republic

03.05.2024

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic Robert Kaliňák and Minister of Defence of Spain Margarita Robles Fernández visited the Military Training Centre (MTC) Lešť on Thursday 2 May 2024. It is there that the Spanish Contingent is operationally deployed as part of the NATO Battlegroup in Slovakia. Spain will take over command of the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Slovakia (NATO MN BG SVK) from the Czech Republic as early as this July.

During their bilateral talks at MTC Lešť, Mr Robert Kaliňák thanked Ms Margarita Robles Fernández for her country's vital contribution to this multinational task force. As such, ESP troops participate in joint exercises and play a part in deterring the realistic threat of a physical attack on Alliance territory. With this in mind, he expressed his appreciation for Spain's decision to assume command of NATO MN BG SVK as the Framework Nation (FN).

Speaking on this occasion, Robert Kaliňák said: "The Spanish service personnel praise the hospitality of Slovakia as the Host Nation, our mutual cooperation, and the conditions and facilities for the soldiers stationed at the Training Centre Lešť, which is a modern military training area of European format."

The Defence Minister further underpinned that Slovakia cannot rely on collective defence only, but, under Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty, it needs to ramp up its efforts to make substantial upgrades to the country's individual warfighting capabilities as the basis for collective capacity to resist any armed attack.

In this context, both Minister Kaliňák and Minister Fernández were interested in the coordination and synchronisation of all troops engaged in the defence of Slovakia. According to Mr Kaliňák, ESP and SVK military personnel serving shoulder to shoulder with other Battlegroup soldiers confirmed their readiness to defend Alliance territory during Ex Strong Cohesion 2024 (STCO24) - the Battlegroup's NATO Combat Readiness Evaluation (CREVAL) exercise - which demonstrated the compatibility of their standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the conduct of defensive combat operations.

As the Defence Minister reminded us, the Spanish Contingent has been arriving in Slovakia in stages from the start of this year. Up to 780 Spanish service personnel along with combat and support equipment will have been deployed to Slovakia by July 2024.