By kind invitation of Brigadier General Juraj Krištofovič of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Slovak Republic, the NATO Communications and Information Agency General Manager, Mr Koen Gijsbers and Director Acquisition, Mr Peter Scaruppe travelled to Slovakia on 15-16 May to attend the International Defence Exhibition Bratislava. During the visit, the Memorandum of Agreement for Cooperation on C4ISR Activities between the MoD of the Slovak Republic and the NATO Communications and Information Organisation (NCIO) was signed by His Excellency Mr Miloš Koterec, State Secretary of the MoD of the Slovak Republic and Mr Gijsbers.
The General Manager with Director Acquisition attended a meeting with His Excellency Mr Miloš Koterec who was accompanied by Major General Pavel Macko 2nd Deputy of the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel Róbert Tibenský, Armaments Director and Colonel Ivan Ilavský, Deputy Chief of Support Operation Staff. Fruitful discussions took place, which focused on current cooperation and future opportunities for bilateral and multinational cooperation, specifically in the areas of Cyber Defence and the Multinational NATO Software Tools Project.
To coincide with International Defence Exhibition Bratislava, a NATO-Slovak I Industry Forum Panel was held at the Ministry of Economy, opened by Tomáš Valášek, Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to NATO and attended by 7 Slovakian companies. Mr Koen Gijsbers gave an overview of the Agency's strategic objectives and key projects Mr Peter Scaruppe spoke about "How to do Business with NATO."
In addition to visiting the International Defence Exhibition Bratislava, Mr Gijsbers and Mr Scaruppe were able to visit the Central European Security and Foreign Policy Forum GLOBSEC, which was also taking place in the city. The aim of GLOBSEC is to put Central Europe on the map of transatlantic thinking. With around 800 key security and foreign policy figures from both sides of the Atlantic including high level participation from NATO.
*The NCI Agency is the executive arm of the NATO Communication and Information Organisation (NCIO), which aims to achieve maximum effectiveness in delivering C3 capabilities to stakeholders, while ensuring their coherence and interoperability, and ensuring the provision of secure CIS services at minimum cost to Allies – individually and collectively.