Minister of Defence Welcomes Lieutenant General Ján Husák (15 April) The Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic Martin Glváč welcomed Lieutenant General Ján Husák, who celebrated his 90th birthday these days. Lieutenant General Ján Husák is the founder of the sports educational partisan trail Skýcov – Zlatno, which has been taking place in the Tribeč Mountain Range every year since 1988. The Chief of the General Staff of the AF SR Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek also met with Lieutenant General Ján Husák and bestowed a commemorative medal of the Chief of the AF SR of the 3rd class on Husák on the occasion of his jubilee. ‘To serve as a soldier meant for me an accomplishment of my life dreams,’ stated Lt.Gen. Husák. He was born in Sasinkovo on 12 April 1923. As a conscript he graduated from the NCO Military School in Poprad in 1944 and in August of that year he actively participated with the entire army unit in the Slovak National Uprising. After the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising, he became a member of the partisan unit National Avenger, which operated in the Tribeč Mountain Range. He served in the Military unit in Poprad from May 1945. During the years of 1989 – 1992 he acted as Secretary of the Slovak Union of Anti-fascist Fighters in Nitra and during 1992 – 1998 as President of the Slovak Union of Anti-fascist Fighters in Bratislava. The President of the Slovak Republic promoted him on the retired list to the rank of Lieutenant General on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP).
● In Prague, on 15 April, the Czech Minister of Defence Vlastimil Picek, the Chief of the General Staff of the ACR Lieutenant General Petr Pavel and the Head of Military Police of the MoD SR Colonel Jaroslav Hamár presented the members of the 4th Military Police mentoring team of the ACR ISAF task force with medals and merit awards. Among those awarded were also the members of the Slovak Military Police captain Martin Marko and Sergeant 1st Class Vladimír Jendruš, as well as the members of the Czech Air Mentor Team who were tasked to train and mentor the Afghan ground and flying personnel for helicopters Mi -24 and Mi-17. The Czech Minister of Defence Vlastimil Picek and the ChoD of the ACR Lieutenant General Petr Pavel greatly appreciated an excellent cooperation between the Czech and Slovak Military Police while performing tasks in Afghanistan.
Generate savings – enable investments (16 April) Last year, the Ministry of Defence of the SR reviewed requirements, contracts and public procurement, hence saving the amount of EUR 86 million, which was further invested in the soldiers’ equipment and technology. For the Þrst !me in history, the Department of Defence obtained next 19 million EUR from the Allies to establish SOTG to be deployed in Afghanistan. The informa!on was released by the Minister of Defence Mar!n Glváč at the press conference. The Department of Defence introduced several legisla!ve changes last year. ‘Soon the Act that should stabilize the social system will take effect. A sum funded to the special account last year amounted to EUR 106 million,’ explained the Minister. To men!on just some of the next changes introduced, it is merger of military intelligence services or the Act on Intelligence Services, prepared in concert with the Ministry of Interior of the SR and the Slovak Informa!on Service. According to Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek, last year par!cular a$en!on was paid to the soldier’s basic equipment. ‘This equipment had been introduced several years ago; however, we s!ll faced problems with the Þnancing and with supplying individual parts. Last year we allocated addi!onal Þnancial resources for the procurement of the equipment. We spent more than 4,5 million EUR.’ Lieutenant General Vojtek added that the problem concerning the soldier’s basic equipment should be solved by the end of this year. Last year, vehicles IVECO were put in opera!on in the 5th Special Forces Regiment and the Armed Forces purchased vehicles AKTIS and the aircra% weapon systems. Par!cular a$en!on was also paid to the Þghter avia!on. Moderniza!on of the Mi-17 helicopter was carried out, measuring and control devices were purchased for MIGs and the light transporta!on aircra% L-410 were altered. Equally, MAN container trailers were introduced last year. Considerable progress was also made in the maintenance and repair of the equipment. ‘Last year we carried out repairs of the equipment amoun!ng to more than 7 million EUR,’ added the Chief of the General Staff.
● The Government of the Slovak Republic negotiated and endorsed a proposal to conclude The Agreement between the Government of the Slovak Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden on defence cooperation. It is the first international agreement in the field of defence ever concluded with Sweden. It is focused not only on military and technical cooperation or research and development but also on education and training. ‘Our aim is to cooperate with the Kingdom of Sweden in a broad spectrum of defence issues. It is manifest in that the Agreement in question is being concluded on a government level,’ stated the Minister of Defence Martin Glváč.
Chiefs Meet in Poland (18 April) The Chief of the General Staff of the AF SR Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek took part in a regular meeting of the Chiefs of the General Staffs of the Armed Forces of the V4 countries in Sopot, Poland on 17 and 18 April 2013. The aim of the meeting was to review the current situation of the creation of the V4 European Union Battle Group (V4EUBG) and to accept the decisions on further activity of the expert groups. The joint meeting with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Colonel General Volodymyr Zaman was very significant. The military counterparts from the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Slovak Republic welcomed the Polish initiatives to build a multinational chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense battalion within the NATO Smart defence project and expressed their commitment to support the development of this project.
● The international exercise of the police counter terrorist units Atlas Common Challenge 2013 was held in Kolárovo. Besides the member of the Police Corps of the SR, firefighters, the Hungarian, Romanian and Slovenian counter terrorist units also the members of the AF of the SR took part in the exercise. Two helicopters Mi-17 from the helicopter wing in Prešov were deployed. The exercise was held in the presence of the Prime Minister Robert Fico, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Robert Kaliňák, Minister of Defence Martin Glváč, Commander of the Air Force Brigadier General Miroslav Korba and the others. ● In Topoľčany, on 16 – 17 April, the members of the Headquarters and Staff of the 1st Mechanized Brigade underwent a separate staff drill aimed at the exercises planned for this year. The main focus of the drill was on the development of guidelines for a comprehensive staff drill of the Headquarters and Staff of the Mechanized Brigade WILD LYNX 2013 as well as on processing a part of operational documentation for the exercise SLOVAK ENDEAVOR 2013 to be held in September. ● The part of the inspection of the units deployed to ISAF operation was a control by the commander of the Operations Control Centre (OOC) of the Staff of Operations of the General Staff of the AF SR, Colonel of the General Staff Daniel Zmeko, of the members of the AF SR operating in the province Uruzgan held on 16 April on the Multinational Base in the Afghan Tarin Kowt. The Commander of the OOC was met by the Commander of the Combined Team Uruzgan (CTU), the Australian Colonel Simon Stuart. He appreciated a performance of the Slovak mechanics of the artillery system D-30, who, in his words, ‘saved’ one of the most important certification exercises of the year within the Rregional Command South from failure. ● On 16 April, the inspection team from Ukraine held an inspection visit of the helicopter wing in Prešov. The team was greeted by the members of the Slovak verification centre and by the Commander of the General Ján Ambruš Helicopter Wing in Prešov, Colonel Robert Tóth. He provided the inspectors with the background information on the history of the unit as well as with the actual information. The inspection team headed by Colonel Dmitri Filippov was given an opportunity to see a static demonstration of the aviation equipment, a dynamic demonstration of the helicopter transportation of casualties under sling and a helicopter simulator Mi-17 MODER.
Britain rewards veterans (17 April) At Ministry of Defence of the SR, the Western Front veterans of World War Two and their surviving spouses received financial contributions for their participation in the western resistance movement from the hands of the representatives of the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Pensions from the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund and the British Soldiers Charity are annually delivered. The two of the last surviving Western Front veterans, Lt. Štefan Miklánek, Ret. and Col. Milan Píka, Ret., received such financial contribution. ‘We highly value unceasing concern that Britain shows for us, WW II veterans, for our lives and our current living conditions,’ said Milan Píka. ‘This event reflects the unique support provided by Great Britain to our Western Front veterans and their surviving spouses. It is special and unique in that ordinary people of Great Britain make their voluntary donations to support the Slovak veterans and improve quality of their life,’ stated the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the SR Miloš Koterec.
The Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic Martin Glváč participated in the opening of the global security forum Globsec 2013 in Bratislava, where the experts from all around the world discussed the current security matters. On the occasion of the international conference, the Head of the Defence Department met with the Czech Defence Minister Vlastimil Picek, the Italian Defence Minister Giampaolo di Paola, the Swedish Defence Minister Karin Enström and also the Defence Minister of Montenegro Milica Pejanović – Djurišić.
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he cooperation of the repair plants, the exchange of the surplus stockpile, or the future of the supersonic aviation were some of the issues which Martin Glváč and the Czech Defence Minister Vlastimil Picek also discussed. They agreed that the legislation impedes the exchange of the surplus stockpile. ‘Although both parties are interested, the legislation does not allow us to carry out the exchange. We have to find a solution, which would move the process forward,’ stated the Slovak Defence Minister. Martin Glváč suggested that it would be convenient to merge the International Security Forum Globsec with the IDEB/IDET expositions and organize it under the name of V4. In this format it would attract more exhibitors and also more specialists from the area of foreign and security policy.
The Slovak Republic and Sweden will sign an intergovernmental treaty on cooperation in the area of defence. This way the cooperation could be strengthened in the area of explosive ordnance disposal, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense, and as well the expertise exchange. The Defence Minister of the Slovak Republic Martin Glváč and the Defence Minister of Sweden Karin Enström agreed on this matter at the meeting on 19 April. The Head of the Defence Department held talks with the Italian Defence Minister Giampaolo di Paola during the Globsec conference. ‘We regard Italy as an important partner and we are interested in strengthening our joint cooperation,’ he said. The State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic Miloš Koterec welcomed Deborah Brothers, the Deputy Head of the NATO – EU bilateral
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relations of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He pointed out that sharing the experience from the implementation of the strategic defence review and the social welfare system reform in the Armed Forces, as well as the area of the civilian - military cooperation could be viewed as the perspective areas with a view to strengthening defence relations. The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Defence of Poland Robert Kupiecki, accompanied by Miloš Koterec, visited the Airbase in Sliač on Friday. The delegation also visited the Training Military Area Lešť. The Deputy Minister Kupiecki was awarded a Commemorative Medal of the Minister of Defense of the Slovak Republic of the 1st class for his contribution to building up bilateral relations between Poland and Slovakia in the area of security and defence.
April 15 - 21, 2013