Soldiers participate in National Running Race (April 7) Petra Fargušová from the Military Sports Centre Dukla Banská Bystrica took the amazing second place in women’s division during the 66th running race Devín – Bratislava on Sunday. She finished the race with only 9 seconds behind the winner Zsófia Badis from Hungary on the 11,625 meters long route. The military professionals, as usual, placed themselves on the starting line in their field uniforms. ‘My soldiers were given their submachine guns without the locking buttons. I believe that all the 23 athletes will cross the line, ‘said the chief of the Guard of Honour of the President of the Slovak
● As a part of training of a new rotation to ISAF in a military training area Lešť a culminating training event was conducted on 3 April aimed at combat firing from all types of handguns that the Slovak soldiers will use while meeting their tasks in ISAF operation. The troops prepared for the tasks of protection of the assigned positions and installations on the base KAF in Kandahar during routine checks and in emergencies. Commanders of units and formations of the Land Forces were present in a military district in Lešť. They were informed of new challenges the Slovak contingent will be faced with in Afghanistan. These challenges are a matter of concern not only to the force protection units but to the national support element (NSE) as well. Within the past 20 years more than 16 thousand members of the Slovak Armed Forces participated in the mission and operations abroad.
Changes at the Military Repair Plant (April 4) The Defence Minister of the Slovak Republic is not indifferent to the situa on at the Military Repair Plant in Trenčín. He visited the plant and met with the management and the employees on Thursday. ‘I would not want the employees to worry about their jobs. Nowadays each job posi on is precious for every ci zen of the Slovak Republic,’ he stated. He also thanked the trade unionists for having calmed the situa on among the employees, which arose shortly a er they were not paid their salaries on me. The minister removed Fran šek Vlkovič from his post of the Director General and authorized Ľudovít Fridrich to the board of the plant un l a regular selec on process takes place. The reason behind the removal of Fran šek Vlkovič from the office was his giving preference to personal ma ers before a dynamic management of the plant and default to pay the wages to the employees in a regular term due to administrave failures. The minister informed the employees of the plant about the future of the MRP Trenčín (Military Repair Plant). ‘We opted for commodi es which we could assign in a short period of me for the produc on in order to stabilize the plant. I assume that within 6 months we might launch our modernizaon projects in the MRP Trenčín, which encompass BVP 2 and light armoured vehicles.’ Ľudovít Fridrich, the ac ng director, emphasized that he will make an effort primarily aimed at stabilizing the plant and decreasing the expenses of the company. The Military Repair Plant Trenčín, JSC has got approximately 350 employees nowadays. In the last years the majority of the orders were carried out by the defence department. ‘Last year we set aside 12, 9 million of EUR by the orders from the defence department, what represented 84% of the orders’ volume, ‘ explained the minister and he emphasized that this amount should drop down in the future, while mainly external orders should be sought for the plant. Nowadays the plant focuses mainly on the repara on of wheeled vehicles, the produc on of chassis for buses and mobile field hospitals grounding.
● 21 soldiers from the 12th mechanized battalion in Nitra were called at night to render assistance to the inhabitants of the village Hul in district Nové Zámky. They were deployed to provide flood resistance as a part of a flood protection and built barriers on the river Liska. According to Minister of Defence of the SR Martin Glváč, the soldiers were standing by to provide support also in other parts of Slovakia. ‘Soldiers in Nitra, Levice, Topoľčany and Martin remain on stand by until recalled,’ he stated. Also the soldiers from the 13th mechanized battalion of the 1st brigade of the Land Forces in Levice participated in flood protection operations during floods in the district of Levice. Since the water level started to culminate, in the evening they returned back to their unit where they remained on stand by.
Republic, the Col. Miroslav Ištván just before the race kicked off. The soldiers of the Guard of Honour, whose team participation beat the numbers in the last decade, continued traditionally with the historic DevínBratislava Running Race. Other Armed Forces members of the Slovak Republic raced among a crowd of almost 6,000 runners in running shoes and apparel. Colonel Igor Jankovič, the head of the Office of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, was among the runners, who ran the National Running Race Devín-Bratislava already six times at the age of 48.
Visit of State Secretary to NATO (April 3) State Secretary of MoD SR Miloš Koterec met in Brussels with the representatives of NATO. He informed them of development in the field of defence departments, particularly of the initiative of smart defence under the conditions of the SR, of regional cooperation within V4, of the Connected Forces Initiative and of the work on the White Book on Defence. At the meeting with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO Alexander Vershbow he informed also of the preparations for the exercise Capable Logistician 2013 to be held in June. During his talks with NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning Mr. Hüsseyin Diriőz he expressed his support for discussions on a fair and equal sharing of the burden in NATO. In his negotiation with NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for emerging security challenges Mr. Gábor Ilódy he confirmed an interest of the Slovak party in discussions on cyber security and energy security. Miloš Koterec met also with NATO’ Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment Mr. Patrick Auroy and with NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Ms. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovič.
● In a military training area Turecký vrch an advanced firing training was held. It was aimed at improving skills of the members of the Headquarters of the Training and Support Forces, namely their shooting skills, skills of tactical preparation, topography and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protection (CBRN). The main focus was on practicing firing from a position at transient and moving targets and on handling a handgun PI model 82 while firing at fixed targets, as well as on orientation in terrain based on map reading. Trainees underwent training of movement based on azimuth and practiced actions of an initial decontamination after movement through a contaminated area. The tasks of the advanced preparation and training of the selected skills were fully met. ● On 4 April, Military attaché of the Kingdom of Sweden accredited to the Slovak Republic visited the Land Forces’ Headquarters of the AF SR in Trenčín. The delegation of the military attaché Per Rastedt and advisor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Vienna was greeted at the Land Forces’ Headquarters by the Deputy Commander of the Land Forces Col. of the Gen. Staff Karol Navrátil. He introduced the organizational structure and role of the Land Forces in the system of the AF SR, their mission and goals for the current training year, as well as the main equipment. The guests were interested in learning more about the Slovak troops’ engagement in the international crisis management operations and about the relief tasks of the land units during natural and industrial disasters. ● Minister of Defence of the SR Martin Glváč left on 7 April for a four day working visit to Brazil. He will meet with his counterpart, Minister of Defence of Brazil Celso Amori and he will visit the International Defence and Security Fair LAAD 2013. Twelve foreign ministers and four state secretaries have confirmed their participation in the exhibition, where more than 700 exhibitors form various countries of the world will present their products, to include the Slovak companies associated in the Security and Defence Industry Association of the Slovak Republic.
M. Koterec negotiates in Brussels (April 3) The State Secretary Miloš Koterec negotiated in Brussels with the representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Defence Agency (EDA). At his meeting with the Chief Executive of EDA Claude – France Arnould he appreciated the activities and a pro-active role of EDA in support of the member states. They concurred on the need to support activities aimed at developing a competitive and transparent European Defence Market and at building a robust European Defence Technological and Industrial Base, with all the member countries being put on equal footing. Miloš Koterec and the Deputy Secretary General of EEAS discussed the issue of preparation for the December 2013 European Council, which shall focus on the further development of defence capabilities. In the discussion, the State Secretary raised the issue of the ongoing review of EEAS, which should produce results of its increased effectiveness.
Visit of the Chief of Defence of Hungary
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Anniversary of the liberation (April 4) The Defense Minister of the Slovak Republic Mar n Glváč paid tribute on the 68th anniversary of the libera on of Bra slava. The Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Róbert Fico as well as the Minister of Educa on, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic Dušan Čaplovič par cipated in the solemn ceremony at the Memorial of the Libera on of Bra slava in Eugen Suchoň Square.
(April 4) Chief of the General Staff of the AF SR Lieutenant-General Peter Vojtek welcomed the Hungarian Chief of Defence General Tibor Benkő. They evaluated the existing cooperation and exchanged information on the current development in the defence departments of their countries. They discussed the activities conducted as a part of the regional defence initiatives as well as the issue of the engagement of the armed forces in the international crisis management operations. Lieutenant-General Vojtek informed his counterpart of the current state of the Strategic Defence Review, the White Book on defence and strategy of capabilities’ development of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic. Equally, he informed him of the participation of the AF in international exercises in 2013. ‘Cooperation in the field of defence is good and smooth in a long term. It provides an excellent framework for the further development of the Slovak – Hungarian relations also in other fields, ’concluded Lt. Gen. Vojtek. A part of the visit of General Benkő to Slovakia was also a visit to the Slovak National Council, where he met with the Chair of the Defence and Security Committee Jaroslav Baška. Next day, the State Secretary of MoD SR met the Hungarian delegation and subsequently the guests visited the Sliač Airbase and the Military Training Area of the military district in Lešť.
eBULLETIN MO SR
April 1 - 7, 2013