BRATISLAVA, November 22, (WEBNOVINY) – Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan met with his Slovak counterpart Lubomir Galko on Monday in Bratislava. He explained to his guest that his country is in a completely different situation regarding the defense budget than Slovakia. Whereas the Slovak defense spending keeps decreasing, Armenia has no problems with the defense budget. “No one in our country asks why we increase the Defense Ministry’s budget, but why we do not gross it up,” Ohanyan stated. He admits that he envies Slovakia peace and tranquillity. ”It is wonderful how peacefully you managed to split up with another state. We are [in] the Caucasus and the tensions there are much worse,” the Armenian minister said.
Both Ministers have signed the historically first agreement on cooperation in the field of defense between Slovakia and Armenia. “The people will always remember those who started building something on good fundaments,” Galko stated. His Armenian colleague added that after economic and cultural cooperation the one in the military field is a natural continuance of mutual relations.
Galko proposed cooperation in three fields to his Armenian counterpart: training of chemical specialists, consulting and modernizing military equipment. “We can provide training to Armenian chemical specialists in Zemianske Kostolany and training of junior army officers in Liptovsky Mikulas,” Galko specified. Minister Ohanyan was interested in the offer of consulting on the reform of the army and professionalization of armed forces. “We would gladly accept this offer. We also would like to share experience from foreign missions,” Ohanyan said.
Both ministers can imagine cooperation of Slovak and Armenian military plants, as both countries have similar equipment. “Our equipment is similar being a heritage of the Soviet era. It will need repairs and modernization, where I can imagine a lot closer cooperation,” Ohanyan added, informed the spokesman for the Slovak Defense Minister, Ivan Rudolf.
SITA