NATO has decided that Slovakia will run a Nato - Partnership for Peace (PfP) training centre for lower ranking officers from the Alliance's expected new member countries in central and eastern Europe, Slovak Defence Minister Jozef Stank said July 2.
The minister said he had been informed about the decision earlier that day by British Deputy Ambassador to Slovakia Robert Setterfield and Dutch Ambassador to Slovakia Henk Soeters.
The training centre, to be located in northern Slovakia's Liptovský Mikuláš, is designed to boost the qualifications of officers ranging from 2nd lieutenant up to major ranks, and will be Nato largest educational project so far.
The course is scheduled to start in April 2003 and is expected to retrain around 180 officers.