Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák gives his personal thanks to SVK soldiers stationed in Cyprus and meets Cypriot Defence Minister Michalis Giorgallas

Robert Kaliňák, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic, headed off for Cyprus on Saturday (16 December 2023), to meet with our men and women of the Armed Forces serving with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). During his overseas trip, Minister Kaliňák also had an office call with Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus Michalis Giorgallas.

Paying a visit to the Slovak Contingent (SLOVCON), based in Sector Four of UNFICYP, Minister Kaliňák gave his personal thanks to the SVK soldiers for their service and high commitment to UN peacekeeping duties, saying: “During the entire visit, we have heard nothing but words of praise for our contingent. To all our servicemen and women, thank you for your outstanding representation of the Slovak Armed Forces and for the service you give to our country every day.”

Slovakia's current uniformed contribution to the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus is 240 military personnel, which makes it the SVK military's largest contingent on operations abroad. While we celebrate Christmas at home, our UN peacekeepers will be out on duty, away from their families. That's why Robert Kaliňák has brought them gifts – a little piece of home – Christmas trees, wafers, ingredients for the traditional Slovak Christmas sauerkraut soup, and 20 mountain bikes to relax while off duty.

The head of the SVK MOD also met with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of UNFICYP, Mr Colin Stewart, for a discussion of the security situation in Cyprus and the internal aspects of the mission's functioning. The SVK Armed Forces' main operational task in UNFICYP is to ensure the integrity of the buffer zone and maintain the military balance of forces on the ground.

While in Cyprus, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák also held a bilateral meeting with his Cypriot counterpart, Defence Minister Michalis Giorgallas. Both leaders voiced their appreciation for the long-standing special relationship that has existed between the countries for the past 30 years, and they want to make sure it continues to grow from strength to strength.

One of the potential future avenues of SVK-CYP cooperation is the defence industry. In the past, Slovakia sold Zuzana 2000 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) and TATRAPAN artillery command post vehicles (CPVs) to the Republic of Cyprus. With a debate on the modernisation of the CYP Armed Forces underway in Cyprus, Slovakia has responded by offering up options for SVK military equipment and munitions to the CYP Government.