Live combat demonstration of the Slovak Armed Forces at IDEB 2014 Defence Exhibition 1405144

Visitors can look forward to demonstrations of capturing the fleeing suspect by a trained dog and searching for explosives, traps setting samples, self-defence demonstrations as well as previews of escorting and protecting of the VIP in the conflict area. The Armed Forces Honour Guard of SR and Armed Forces Military Band of SR will put on their own show.

The current edition of the exhibition is held in the spirit of the 10th anniversary of the accession of Slovak Republic to the North Atlantic Treaty.

While collective security is the core of NATO, Slovakia joined in 2004, signalling the completion of a major set of domestic reforms. The event coincided with the country joining the European Union just a few weeks later. Still, the preceding years of political divide saw the centre-left parties, traditionally on friendlier terms with Russia, as more hesitant to join NATO, an alliance forged during the Cold War to combat the military threat the Soviet Union and its allies posed to western Europe.

Since joining, Slovak troops have been deployed in Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan as part of NATO missions. At present, 289 Slovaks are in Afghanistan after an additional 57 were sent in January, most in advisory or consulting roles. Slovak soldiers are slated to stay through the end of 2014 in Afghanistan, but this could be extended as NATO stills seeks to work out a future plan with the Afghan government. Three Slovaks were killed in Afghanistan last year, including two by a suicide bomber just after Christmas.

Slovakia still fails to meet the NATO-wide pledge to dedicate at least 2 percent of GDP to spending on defence, though the country is in the same boat as many European members. This year, the Slovak government will spend about 1.05 percent of GDP on defence and experts are wary of the quality of existing military hardware – much of which remains left over from the Cold War period and which is still reliant on spare parts imported from Russia.