Slovakian Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in Bratislava
Today (Monday, July 25), the Defense Secretary travelled to Slovakia to meet with his counterpart and talk about our shared efforts to support Ukraine and maintain European security.
In unison, the UK and Slovakia have been assisting Ukraine in defending itself against Russia’s illegitimate invasion.
While Slovakia was the first NATO ally to donate air defence systems, it recently announced it would send self-propelled howitzers to the country.
Britain was the first European nation to provide military aid to Ukraine and recently announced plans to send hundreds of drones and scores of artillery guns.
Ben Wallace met with Jaroslav Nad, Slovakia’s minister of defence, in Bratislava to discuss what else can be done and how we can continue to cooperate to strengthen our assistance for Ukraine.
Slovakia is a pioneer in Central Europe in defending Ukraine and thwarting Russian aggression, according to Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
Today I had the pleasure of seeing my good friend Jaroslav Nad.
Our bilateral meeting included future military assistance to the conflict as well as British defence assistance to Slovakia.
During their one-day meeting, Ben Wallace and Jaroslav Nad also spoke about other crucial issues, including as our shared cooperation with NATO, initiatives to combat Russian misinformation in Eastern Europe, and efforts to advance peace and stability in the area.
They also discussed ways to strengthen and broaden our long-standing defence alliance, which dates back to World War II, when brave soldiers from the former Czechoslovakia trained in the UK in collaboration with the Czechoslovak government in exile in Britain and killed high-ranking Nazi Reinhard Heydrich.
At the time, Slovak pilots served in the RAF.
In terms of defence, the UK and Slovakia currently cooperate closely, and this relationship is strengthening.
One example of this cooperation is the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT), which is currently teaching a course in Slovakia.