Slovak Government adopted a strategic review of defence IDEB 2012 show daily news 2312112

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Friday, December 23, 2011, 11:48 AM
 
The Slovak Government adopted a strategic review of defence
Starting next year, Slovak Defence Minister wants to introduce a new model of Slovak Armed Forces functioning into practice. “We want to launch the building of a modern, well equipped and effectively functioning military for an independent and self-confident Slovakia right from January,” Galko said after a Government session on Wednesday. According to the minister, what now lies ahead of the armed forces is the streamlining of officer structures, mergers of command centres, and civilian lay-offs. Galko expects the positive effects of these measures to be visible as soon as in 2013.
     
Starting next year, Slovak Defence Minister wants to introduce a new model of Slovak Armed Forces functioning into practice. “We want to launch the building of a modern, well equipped and effectively functioning military for an independent and self-confident Slovakia right from January,” Galko said after a Government session on Wednesday. According to the minister, what now lies ahead of the armed forces is the streamlining of officer structures, mergers of command centres, and civilian lay-offs. Galko expects the positive effects of these measures to be visible as soon as in 2013.
Slovak Armed Forces participate in several NATO operations around the world (KFOR Archive image)
     
He explained that by adopting the said material the Government had responded to the critical situation inside the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic. The critical situation requires that timely, systemic and long-term solutions be adopted, according to the minister. The Government has therefore today acknowledged the Bases for the Strategic Evaluation of Slovakia’s Defence Sector, a material in which the Defence Ministry comprehensively describes the existing situation in the Slovak Armed Forces and presents proposals on which the future model of its further functioning should be built. Detailed plans for the system changes to be implemented in the defence sector will be included in a so-called White Book which the Ministry is tasked to prepare by the end of 2011.

Galko understands the Government’s acknowledgement of the material as a mandate to guide, and elaborate on the future development of the defence sector. “This is an excellent starting point to bring the Armed Forces to the next level, and that’s what we are all after,” he added.

One of the main points of the Defence Ministry’s strategy for the upcoming years should be an extensive modernisation of individual components of the Slovak Armed Forces, with EUR 3.3 billion expected to be gradually spent on rearmament over the next ten years, on top of the Ministry’s budgetary chapter. Most of these funds should be spent on the modernisation of armoured vehicles, while some EUR 800 million is to be invested in the Slovak Air Force. This amount does not cover, however, the possible replacement of MiG-29 fighters whose service life extends beyond the planned framework of the future model.