The government in Bratislava approved on Wednesday the deployment of up to 101 Slovak soldiers as part of NATO’s Eastern Sentinel operation, a mission aimed at strengthening the protection of airspace along the Alliance’s eastern flank. The soldiers will be primarily stationed in Poland and Romania, reports the Slovak agency TASR, according to Agerpres.
In an explanatory report, the Ministry of Defense in Bratislava specified that the aim of the deployment is to strengthen NATO’s ability to monitor the airspace of member states.
“The purpose of the operation is to strengthen NATO’s capabilities for monitoring the airspace of NATO member states, early warning, creating a common picture of the air situation, and supporting NATO’s integrated air and missile defense on the eastern flank,” the document states.
The Ministry also notes that the mission aims to strengthen deterrence and, at the same time, to increase and test the interoperability and capacity of Slovak forces to operate in a multinational framework, but also to honor the commitments undertaken within the Alliance.
Once the mandate receives the green light from the Parliament, Slovak soldiers are set to support the surveillance of the airspace of some allied states, to generate and exchange radar data, to transmit early warnings, and to contribute to shaping a common picture of the air situation.
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