Annual Report Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic 2008

1.
gradually developing its participation in the ISAF
mission, taking on a more demanding role with
a higher level of responsibility. According to the
new mandate of the AF SR in Afghanistan approved
by the Government of the Slovak Republic
(11 June 2008) and the National Council of the
Slovak Republic (19 June 2008), the focus point
of Slovakia’s activity is moving to the south of
Afghanistan to the provinces of Oruzgan (under
Dutch command) and Kandahar (under Canadian
command). Slovakia currently deploys 175 soldiers
in Afghanistan (and will commit a total of
246 soldiers by the end of the first half of 2009):
multifunctional engineering unit of 57
(Kandahar);
military police of 50 (Kandahar);
military police of 45 (Oruzgan);
national support element of 11 (Kandahar);
4 Operational Mentor and Liaison Team
(OMLT) members (Oruzgan);
4 members of ISAF command
(1 in Kabul, 3 in Kandahar);
4 Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) members
(2 in Oruzgan, 2 in Baglan).
In 2009, Afghanistan will become a programme
country of Slovakia’s official development assistance.
Cooperation with programme countries is
long-term in character involving a greater volume
of resources. In 2008, the Slovak Republic donated
50,000 EUR to the Afghanistan Trust Fund. The
Trust Fund is dedicated to the stockpiling of surplus
ammunition and maintenance equipment,
training in ammunition management and the
joint development of the national action plan on
ammunition.
Celebrations for the fourth
anniversary of Slovakia’s
membership in NATO
took place in Nitra. The
army put on a series of
displays involving military
equipment and hand-tohand
combat, the military
police, helicopter flights
and dog handling,
March 2008
The Secretary General
of NATO, Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer, and the President
of Romania, Traian Basescu,
welcome the President
of the Slovak Republic,
Ivan Gašparovič, at the
ceremonial opening of
the NATO Summit at the
Palace of the Parliament in
Bucharest, April 2008
problems and challenges of the globalized world will
be solved. Europe and the USA are mutually destined
to maintain a close alliance and cooperate because it is
mutually beneficial and our interests are very similar.
The financial and economic crisis only accentuates the
scope of today’s globalization. The deepening of the
crisis on a global scale will not remove existing problems
and challenges in the security field. On the contrary,
for the USA and the EU to be equal partners it is
necessary for the EU to command equal collective military
capabilities, have a unified will and a mechanism
to utilize these forces at times of need. I am afraid that
from a long-term perspective the military capability
gap between the USA and the EU will only increase
and that the inability of Europe to quickly express its
collective political will may well widen the transatlantic
divide.
Is success in Afghanistan truly decisive for the future
of the Alliance as many representatives of NATO member
countries have stated?
The success of each person and institution is directly
dependent on their actions and their ability to fulfil
the objectives set. Correctly establishing objectives is
especially important in terms of military operations as
it allows us to determine what is a success and what is
not. I am afraid it will be very hard for NATO to define
what the ‘success of the operation’ is and even harder
to define what has to be done to achieve it. Security
and defence are expensive matters financed by public
funds and they easily become the subject of oversimplified
political arguments and debates. Success is
important, but the ability to define and subsequently
achieve it is even more important. Today, the Alliance
is facing a great challenge in terms of its relevancy,
and not only in regard to the operation in Afghanistan.
NATO only has as much significance and influence as
its members bestow upon it. It would be a shame if its
members marginalized it without having a better alternative
than that which NATO has been for the past
60 years. More at:
www.nato.int (NATO)
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