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Immediate Release

Readout of Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work's meeting with the Slovakian Defense Minister Martin Glvac

Deputy Secretary of Defense Spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson provided the following readout:

Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work met with the Slovakian Defense Minister Martin Glvac this morning at the Pentagon.

During their meeting, Work and Glvac reviewed the U.S.-Slovak bilateral defense relationship and discussed Slovakia's modernization efforts, opportunities to increase security cooperation between the U.S. and Slovakia, the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and Russia's aggressive behavior in Ukraine.

Work praised Slovakia for its contributions to NATO and international security and applauded Slovakia’s defense modernization program.

The leaders exchanged insights on sustaining and modernizing military capabilities in fiscally constrained times and noted the strategic, operational, and tactical benefits of defense cooperation for both nations. Minister Glvac assured the deputy secretary that Slovakia is committed to allocating 20 percent of the defense budget for modernization and spending 1.6 percent of GDP on defense by 2020. Work pledged support of Slovakia's defense modernization plan, to include their recent procurement of U.S. made helicopters to increase NATO interoperability, and their efforts to reduce dependence on Russian equipment.

On Ukraine the two leaders emphasized that the U.S. and Slovakia should continue to present a united front with NATO to deal with Russia's aggressive behavior in the region. Work thanked Glvac for the support that Slovakia is providing to support Ukraine's security, to include military training and humanitarian aid.

Finally, Work thanked Glvac for Slovakia's continued cooperation, bilaterally and multilaterally, in a changing European and international security environment.