• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Minister Sklenár at NATO HQ in Brussels: "Our support for Ukraine is an investment in our own defence and security"

Ministry of Defence of The Slovak Republic

15.06.2023

At the two-day NATO Defence Ministerial in Brussels, Defence Minister Martin Sklenár has been taking part today in a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings, with a particular focus on supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russia's unprecedented aggression and deepening defence industrial cooperation between Slovakia, Czechia and Ukraine.

After holding a bilateral with his Dutch colleague Kajsa Ollongren to thank the Netherlands for its continued interest in Slovakia's security and seeking capacity reinforcement alternatives, Defence Minister Sklenár is still to meet his German counterpart Boris Pistorius for another bilateral later today.

During a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) and a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC), defence leaders of selected countries paid their attention to the current priorities of our eastern neighbour. "Our support for Ukraine is long-standing and we see it as an investment in our own defence and security. We must continue to aid Ukraine, which is further confirmed by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam - this shows how important it is for Ukraine to restore control over its territory," Minister Sklenár said.

In addition to that, he also reiterated Slovakia's support for the European Commission (EC)'s initiative to speed up and increase the production of artillery munitions. He added that there is a chance for SVK defence firms to get significant EU funding to ramp up the production of munitions to restock ammunition warehouses and to meet the needs of Ukraine.

One crucial conclusion of today's meeting is that Ukraine has joined forces with Slovakia and Czechia to collaborate on the procurement and operation of the Swedish-made CV90. To support this aim, the Slovak, Czech and Ukrainian Defence Ministers have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which provides a framework for the nations to forge closer cooperation on the CV90 capability.