Gajdos Offers Cypriot National Guard to Train in Slovakia

Gajdos Offers Cypriot National Guard to Train in Slovakia

Nicosia, December 12 (TASR-correspondent) – Both the involvement of Slovak servicemen in the UNFICYP mission and the deepening of bilateral cooperation were debated by Slovak Defence Minister Peter Gajdos and his Cypriot counterpart Christoforos Fokaides in Nicosia on Monday.

Gajdos is accompanying Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko on his working visit in Cyprus.

“We’re interested in further developing bilateral cooperation in the sphere of security, as well as on EU soil,” said Gajdos.

The Slovak minister offered Cyprus the opportunity to train its National Guard at the Slovak military training facility in Lest (Banska Bystrica region) and at Central Europe’s single chemical and biological ordnance exercise facility featuring real chemical substances in Zemianske Kostolany (Trencin region).

The Cypriot defence minister thanked Slovakia for its continuous support in solving the Cyprus issue, mainly in assisting in dialogue between leaders of the political parties from the two communities living on the island.

“I also want to express the gratitude of the Cyprus Government for the precious contribution provided by Slovakia towards the UN peacekeeping forces in Cyprus. We also want to congratulate Slovakia on its successful Presidency of the EU Council in these difficult times,” said the Cypriot minister.

Slovakia, which has been engaged in the UNFICYP mission since 2001, increased the strength of its contingent from 159 to 169 in September 2016. Slovakia is currently the commanding country of Sector 4 in Famagusta, which also features Serbian and Hungarian platoons.