308 SVK military personnel complete their tasks on missions and operations abroad and return home from tours of duty

A total of 308 SVK military personnel have completed their tasks on missions and operations abroad and have recently returned from tours of duty in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Cyprus, Iraq, Latvia, and the Mediterranean Sea. In today's homecoming ceremony at 21 Mechanised Battalion Trebišov, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď and Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko thanked them for representing the Armed Forces internationally.

Speaking in front of the gathered Service personnel and their families, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “When going through the names of all Slovak Armed Forces deployments, we can see all the places where SVK military personnel are serving on UN, EU and NATO missions and operations to maintain peace and calm. This means being firmly anchored in the Euro-Atlantic structures, whilst securing calm and prosperity for our families and our country and promoting growth and peace in the world. Never ever has that been more important than today.”

Jaroslav Naď thanked the Service men and women and their families, saying: “The soldier’s profession is to serve the country and his or her close ones must shoulder the burden of supporting them – I am very conscious that this may be far from easy. My warmest of thanks to you for all the sacrifices you have made.”

With respect to international crisis management, over 21,000 SVK Service personnel have so far represented Slovakia on missions and operations abroad.