SOME of the world’s leading experts on explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) met in the western-Slovak town of Trenčín on September 18 for the Demonstration and Trials 2012 conference organised by the NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division and the Trenčín-based NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence, the first official NATO institution to be sited in Slovakia.
The aim of the seminar, which was about defence investments in the context of current security challenges, was to provide information and discuss opinions on the impact of decisions passed by the heads of state and government at the NATO summit in Chicago earlier this year, the Slovak Defence Ministry stated on its website.
NATO deputy assistant secretary general Jamie Shea said during a meeting with Slovak Defence Ministry State Secretary (i.e. deputy minister) Milan Koterec that the EOD Centre of Excellence is “an excellent example of how a country like Slovakia can fill the necessary space for relatively low costs”, the Defence Ministry reported.