Lt. Gen. Vojtek in Hungary (October 9 - 10) The Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Peter Vojtek visited Budapest on invitation by the Chief of the General Staff of the Hungarian Armed Forces. The goal of Vojtek´s first business trip to Hungary since his inauguration was to meet the Chief of the General Staff of the Hungarian Armed Forces Col. Gen. Tibor Benkő and discuss matters of mutual interest, among them the current status of the armed forces of both nations, the state of preparations and development of the common EU Battle Group V4, middle -term development and modernization plans, participation of the respective countries in the international crisis management operations and the plans for future participation in such. The partners also discussed common avenues for multilateral cooperation, accrediting, capabilities and assessment of cooperation opportunities within the Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) program. At the conclusion of the meeting both generals evaluated the bilateral cooperation between the armed forces and opportunities for its development in the future. On October 10, 2012 Lt. Gen. Vojtek met the Administrative State Secretary of the Hungarian MoD Lajos Fodor. The talks concentrated on specifying further cooperative steps in protecting the airspace within the NATO Integrated Air Defence System (NATINADS). “We regard the Hungarian Armed Forces as an important partner - we share close contacts, cooperation and common interests, both in developing the region we live in, and in securing its safety,” said Lt. Gen. Vojtek.
Ministerial in Brussels (October 10) Defense Minister Mar n Glváč is looking for ways to streamline the opera on of the MoD so that next year more funds could go to arming, development and further innova ons in the armed forces. Glváč confirmed this a er the mee ng of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. “Despite the ever decreasing budget we strive to adjust the processes within the ministry so that we come close to the 20-percent limit (of the overall MoD budget), which NATO requests of its members,” he said.
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One of the tools for keeping most funds in the budget is the coopera on among the member states, Glváč claims. “The mee ng confirmed the steps we have already taken. We have several ongoing projects with the Czech Republic and Poland, and other ideas could gain more specific outlines in the course of the upcoming V4 consulta ons,” he said, confirming that defense cu ng was a general phenomenon, therefore ways to fight the economic crisis with respect to defense financing were one of the main topics of the NATO defense ministers´ mee ng in Brussels. Defense Minister Glváč reiterates that Slovakia remains a reliable NATO partner and as such our troops shall remain in Afghanistan for as long as necessary. “We have informed our partners of this and in the upcoming weeks we will discuss the SOTG (special opera ons task group),” said Glváč. NATO defense ministers also discussed the developments on the Turkish-Syrian border coming to a conclusion that the interven on of NATO coali on forces is not an issue right now. NATO defense ministers also agreed that it is necessary to find a poli cal solu on to the tense situa on in the northern part of Kosovo, one which all par es involved would agree to. The developments in Northern Kosovo bear implica ons not only on the future of Kosovo as such, but also on the whole region. The Slovak Republic did not recognize Kosovo and our posi on remains unchanging; Slovakia supports mul lateralism and prefers solu ons agreed upon previously. “The necessity of connua on of the poli cal dialogue between Beograd and Pris na as well as the necessity for close coopera on between KFOR and EULEX is a priority for us,” stressed the MoD State Secretary Miloš Koterec at the mee ng in Brussels. Discussions concerning the ISAF opera on focused on the evalua on of latest developments and on the successful commencement of the third transi on stage of Afghan provinces and districts. The role of NATO in Afghanistan a er ISAF was also discussed and a decision reached to start the planning process for a new NATO mission in Afghanistan a er 2014. Special a en on was devoted to an increase in the occurrence of skirmishes between the Afghan Na onal Security Forces and the ISAF personnel; ways to address this issue were outlined: “Slovakia will stand by its commitments in the upcoming NATO operaon a er 2014,” said Koterec. At the NATO summit in Chicago in May Slovakia has already pledged its commitment to support building the security of Afghanistan.
● Strategic guidance for planning the operations of the Slovak Armed Forces (OS SR) in 2013 and the strategy of development of OS SR by 2024 (military aspects of the White Book on Defense) were the main topics presented by the Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Vojtek at the session of the Military Council on October 11, 2012 in Bratislava. The discussions concentrated on planning the funds for 2013, as well as on defining the training goals and trends in 2013. ● From October 9 to October 11, 2012 staff members of the NATO National Reserve Forces Committee (NRFC) met in Bratislava. The main goal of the meeting held under the auspices of the Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Vojtek, was to discuss in syndicate groups the key topics, which will be on the agenda of the winter NRFC congress in January 2013 at the NATO HQ in Brussels. ● On October 9, 2012 four pilots of the Sliač Mixed Wing Combat Squadron took off from the base aboard three MiG-29s to participate in the Eagle Talon exercise in Poland. Ground personnel and the necessary equipment followed aboard the L-410 aircraft from the Kuchyňa Transport Wing. The exercise was controlled directly by COP (Centrum Operacji Powietrznych) in Warsaw, and the Combat Squadron had an officer responsible for ATO (Air Task Order) allocated there. The goal of the exercise was to streamline activities performed during common tactical operations. The exercise provided an excellent opportunity for our pilots to gain experience, and to raise their tactical mastery of the MiG-29 aircraft. ● The largest project of the current rotation of ISAF engineers - the construction of the RIP RAP canal (fortifications of the canal bed, flow regulation) came to an end following two months of hard work. The canal should relieve the onslaught of water during floods, which affects the Kandahar base annually causing serious damage. Engineering work on the canal had to be carried out outside of the KAF base and the engineering unit had to take care of its own protection. The idea behind the canal construction belongs to the KAF Chief CJ4 Engineer Lt. Col. Pavol Perička. ● From October 10 to October 12, 2012 the premises of the Command, Management and Reconnaissance Brigade in Zvolen hosted the TATRA FREEDOM – FULL SCALE 04/12 exercise focused on air operations and the protection of the Slovak airspace in times of peace, crisis and war. Along with air operations the exercise tested the forces protection and the logistical support of the Zvolen Brigade Command. The eighth TATRA FREEDOM - FULL SCALE exercise constitutes a part of the Brigade personnel preparation for NATO tactical evaluation (NATO TACEVAL), planned for the first half of the 2013 training year. ● From October 9 to October 12, 2012 the delegation of the Serbian Military Police Command visited Slovakia - historically the first visit of its kind. At the Military Police Command HQ in Trenčín the delegation was welcomed by the Military Police Director Col. Jaroslav Hamár. He introduced the Serbian guests to the Slovak Military Police history and current tasks, as well as experiences from operations and missions on foreign soil.
Capable Logistician Rehearsed (October 9) The MoD hosted an international staff rehearsal of key personnel allocated to the Capable Logistician 2013 exercise planned for June next year. The goal of the rehearsal, which brought together 125 officers from 14 countries, was to harmonize key personnel, process operation order and test the interoperability of communication equipment, which will be used in the exercise. Last week the representatives of the Czech Republic and Slovakia sent the NATO Military Committee an invitation to Capable Logistician 2013. On October 15, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. Rádio Regina will air the Military Review dedicated to Warrant Officer Viliam Michálek, the founder of the Pipeline Transport Center. The story of the memorial to fallen Slovak soldiers in the Ukrainian town of Ovruč will be unveiled in an interview with Brig. Gen. František Bartko aired by Rádio Slovensko on Wednesday at 4:47 p.m. The Military TV magazine PROFESSIONAL traveled to Topoľčany to capture first the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the 1st Mechanized Brigade, and then the first phase of the FORT PRIBINA 2 exercise. Both stories will be run on STV 2 on Wednesday at 11:35 p.m. and rerun on Oct. 18, 2012 at 2:35 p.m. and on Oct. 23, 2012 at 6:50 a.m.
45 Years Of Military Archives
(October 12) On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the founding of Military Archives - MoD´s Central Register in Trnava – a conference was held there under the auspices of Defense Minister Martin Glváč. Military archivists from Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary presented plans for modernizing their archives, constructing new ones and continuing in the efforts to digitize archive documents. Slovakia, unfortunately, is lagging behind in this respect. Documents are stored in objectionable rooms with impaired static. Archivists are still waiting for a military archive worth the 21st century.
Koterec: We Need A Pragmatic Approach (October 8) The University Library in Bratislava hosted the conference on current issues in Slovak foreign and security policy - The Slovak Security Forum. Representatives from state institutions and bodies, diplomats, soldiers, NGO activists, political scientists and journalists discussed the current international security situation with special emphasis on the role of the Slovak Republic, as well as our military contribution to the ISAF operation in Afghanistan. As pointed out in the speech made by the MoD State Secretary Miloš Koterec, in times of global economic crisis and financial austerity resulting in
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defense cuts, it is necessary to search for ways to secure the protection of basic security and defense interest while streamlining the available resources and maximizing the use of current capabilities. Koterec also mentioned that several projects were officially initiated in the aftermath of the Chicago NATO summit, among them the consortium activity procuring the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system, which Slovakia is a part of. Apart from NATO flagship projects such as the ballistic missile defense system, Slovakia actively participates in five NATO “Smart Defense” programs, and we also prepare multinational projects in the spirit of “Smart Defense” within the Visegrad (V-4) group, in broader Middle-European context, and also on bilateral basis. For Slovakia the key project within the V-4 group is the commitment to form the common V-4 EU Battle Group in 2016.
October 8 - 14, 2012