The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, received yesterday in Madrid her Slovak counterpart, Robert Kaliňák, who thanked Spain for assuming the leadership of the multinational combat group deployed in her country within the framework of NATO’s deterrent mission on the eastern flank.
During the meeting, which took place at the Ministry of Defense, Robles and Kaliňák exchanged views on the current situation in terms of security and defense and on European industrial capabilities and the minister highlighted “the importance of fighting for peace, in a situation as turbulent as we live today,” according to Defense in a press release.
For his part, Minister Kaliňák thanked Spain for the solidarity shown by assuming leadership of the multinational combat group deployed in Slovakia, pointing out that military deployments on the eastern flank not only reinforce the Alliance’s deterrence and defense capacity, but they also improve the security of the Allies closest to the Russian borders, such as Slovakia.
The Spanish Armed Forces began, on January 20, 2024, the progressive deployment of personnel and capabilities in Slovakia, where, with more than 700 troops, it will take over from the Czech Republic in the role of ‘Frame Nation’ from June 30. of the multinational combat group.
The Slovak Battle Group is one of eight battalions deployed by NATO to the Eastern Flank as part of its strategy after the invasion of Ukraine, and is scheduled to become a multinational brigade in mid-2025. It has up to 1,500 troops from the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and the United States. Currently there are 608 Spanish soldiers in the town of Lest and another 16 in Kuchyna, to which around 150 troops will be added in June, completing the bulk of the Spanish contingent.
Alliance member states agreed to create four new international battalions in Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania during the extraordinary summit held last year in Brussels following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These combat groups join those already existing, since 2017, in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In this regard, the minister highlighted that, “after five years of deployment on the eastern flank of NATO, Spain maintains its full dedication to the Reinforced Forward Presence initiative, aware that this initiative represents a turning point for the credibility of the deterrence and defense posture of the Alliance.” Regarding industrial capabilities, Robles showed her confidence that “Slovakia and Spain continue to intensify their cooperation in this field.”
