Minister Sklenár in Brussels: “Continued support to Ukraine remains our priority number one”
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- Date: 23.05.2023
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During his working trip to Brussels, Defence Minister Martin Sklenár today joined other EU Defence Ministers for a series of meetings, as well as holding a bilateral meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. The central themes of the meetings included joint defence support to Ukraine, the progress made in the delivery of artillery munitions to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the impact of the war on the EU's future defence capabilities.
At the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting, Minister Sklenár underlined the need for the swift adoption of a package of measures to increase European defence industrial capacity in order to meet the EU's ambition of sending one million artillery rounds to Ukraine and to replenish this type of ammunition and military stocks at home.
Reaffirming Slovakia's determination to persist in backing the Ukrainian defenders, Defence Minister Martin Sklenár said: “In the interests of supporting peace and stability in our region and in the world, continued support to Ukraine remains our priority number one. We, as the EU, want to remain a credible partner, which is why we need to translate our common ambitions into concrete steps. Today we, therefore, met to discuss a range of issues, including securing the sustainable provision of assistance to our eastern neighbour.”
During the bilateral meeting with his German counterpart, Minister Sklenár updated Minister Pistorius on the priorities of the new MOD leadership in the field of defence policy. Furthermore, he confirmed Slovakia's continuation of its transatlantic direction, modernisation efforts in the Slovak Armed Forces, and defence investment pledge at a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence. Both leaders appreciated the SVK-DEU defence relationship so far and reiterated their interest in seeing it go from strength to strength.
According to Minister Sklenár, Germany is our very close and credible partner as it makes a contribution to the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Slovakia and safeguards SVK skies with the Patriot missile system. We are also working together to repair Ukrainian equipment at a battle damage repair facility in Michalovce. What's more, Germany is delivering Leopard 2A4 MBTs to Slovakia as compensation for the transfer of the Slovak BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine and is going to gift a MANTIS air defence system to Slovakia.
EU Defence Ministers also met in the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board to exchange views on capability implications of the war in Ukraine for the EU. At the conclusion of his working trip to Brussels, Minister Sklenár participated in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, where Ministers took stock of EU-NATO cooperation.
At the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting, Minister Sklenár underlined the need for the swift adoption of a package of measures to increase European defence industrial capacity in order to meet the EU's ambition of sending one million artillery rounds to Ukraine and to replenish this type of ammunition and military stocks at home.
Reaffirming Slovakia's determination to persist in backing the Ukrainian defenders, Defence Minister Martin Sklenár said: “In the interests of supporting peace and stability in our region and in the world, continued support to Ukraine remains our priority number one. We, as the EU, want to remain a credible partner, which is why we need to translate our common ambitions into concrete steps. Today we, therefore, met to discuss a range of issues, including securing the sustainable provision of assistance to our eastern neighbour.”
During the bilateral meeting with his German counterpart, Minister Sklenár updated Minister Pistorius on the priorities of the new MOD leadership in the field of defence policy. Furthermore, he confirmed Slovakia's continuation of its transatlantic direction, modernisation efforts in the Slovak Armed Forces, and defence investment pledge at a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence. Both leaders appreciated the SVK-DEU defence relationship so far and reiterated their interest in seeing it go from strength to strength.
According to Minister Sklenár, Germany is our very close and credible partner as it makes a contribution to the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Slovakia and safeguards SVK skies with the Patriot missile system. We are also working together to repair Ukrainian equipment at a battle damage repair facility in Michalovce. What's more, Germany is delivering Leopard 2A4 MBTs to Slovakia as compensation for the transfer of the Slovak BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine and is going to gift a MANTIS air defence system to Slovakia.
EU Defence Ministers also met in the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board to exchange views on capability implications of the war in Ukraine for the EU. At the conclusion of his working trip to Brussels, Minister Sklenár participated in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, where Ministers took stock of EU-NATO cooperation.
