BRATISLAVA, October 10, (WEBNOVINY) — Iraqi Ambassador to Slovakia Matheel Dhayif Majeed Al-Sabti told Slovak Defense Minister Lubomir Galko at a meeting on Monday that his country wishes to intensify cooperation with Slovakia in the defense industry area. He specified that Iraq’s priority is training of experts for operation of Slovak-made Bozena mine-clearing equipment. Currently, it possess 29 such devices and the ambassador says that it is pity that they are not hundred percent used. “We think that as a supplier country, you should have the main say in this sphere,” he said. The ambassador added that also another country has offered them its services as a mine-clearing expert.
The minister gave assurances to the ambassador that Slovakia is interested in cooperation with Iraq in this area. Furthermore, he sees room for cooperation in several other spheres, including specialized training with real chemical weapons in the center of Radiation Chemical and Biological Protection in Zemianske Kostolany, cooperation with the recently opened NATO center of excellence for explosives disposal in Trencin and educational courses for junior army officers in the Academy of Armed Forces in Liptovsky Mikulas. The minister hailed the news that a new defense minister of the Iraqi Republic, Saadun al-Dulaimi, was appointed. „We would be happy if he manages to visit Slovakia next year,“ Galko stated.
SITA