Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš opens 5th NATO EOD Demonstrations and Trials 2018


New Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)/Improvised Explosive Devices Disposal (IEDD) technologies and trends can be viewed today (19 September 2018) and tomorrow on Thursday by visitors to the 5th NATO EOD Demonstrations and Trials 2018 at Bratislavaʼs Incheba Expo Arena. The exhibition, organised by the NATO Centre of Excellence EOD Trenčín, was today opened by Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš.
In his opening speech, Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš said: “Today, too, the Slovak Republic has its irreplaceable place in this field, and we have a lot to offer to our Allies and partners. This has been the case, for example, with our engagement in Ukraine, where we are the Lead Nation for the NATO EOD/C-IED Trust Fund.” He noted that over 360 participants from 22 countries have registered for this yearʼs NATO EOD Demonstrations and Trials 2018. “These record attendance levels point to the significance, relevance and added value of this project,” he added.

In his speech, Chief of Defence Lt Gen Daniel Zmeko underlined that the SVK Armed Forces have top level EOD specialists. “This has been achieved also thanks to the fact that we have both national and international EOD centres in Slovakia. The deployments of SVK EOD specialists on operations abroad, be that in Iraq or Afghanistan, are testament to their achievements.”

The Slovak Republic has been the NATO Lead Nation for EOD since 2004. The main theme of this yearʼs exhibition and conference is ‘Multidisciplinary Approach to EOD’. The event is organised by the NATO EOD COE Trenčín in collaboration with the Military Engineering Centre of Excellence (MILENG COE) in Germany and the Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED COE) in Spain under the aegis of the NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division (ESCD).

 

Full press release with image gallery and video is available at the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic website.