Readout of Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad's call with new Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson

In their first official conversation, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď spoke with His Excellency Pål Jonson, the new Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden, by telephone today regarding the existing SVK-SWE defence cooperation links and opportunities for future collaboration, especially in light of the Slovak military's modernisation programmes and Sweden's accession process to NATO.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “I trust my new colleague and I will build on the strength of our bilateral defence ties, as has been the case so far. Most importantly, what lies ahead of us is a landmark milestone in the form of a government-to-government (G2G) agreement to deliver 152 CV90 MkIV tracked armoured fighting vehicles. Currently, our expert teams are doing everything they can to provide our service personnel with this key armoured capability for the protection and defence of the Slovak Republic at the earliest possible time.”

On the deal, Minister Naď said that the processes are proceeding as planned and that more information will be released as and when it becomes available in the coming future.

Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson hailed not only the level of the SWE-SVK bilateral defence relationship, but also Slovakia's support as the Kingdom of Sweden moves towards full NATO membership. “We are looking forward to working closely with each other as allies,” Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď concluded.