Finishes the first part of the deployment of Spanish forces in Slovakia

• Spain contributes with personnel, resources and equipment to the Atlantic Alliance operation that guarantees security on the eastern flank

Currently deployed in Slovakia are some 700 military personnel and 250 vehicles in various combat, command and control, logistical support and medical support roles, as well as about 30 containers with a variety of equipment and materiel. These are all part of the defence and deterrence operation on NATO's eastern flank.

The deployment of the first military personnel started on the 20th of January and this first phase was concluded with the arrival of more personnel and the bulk of vehicles and equipment on the 18th of March.

The deployment of forces involves the projection of personnel and means and the process of Reception, Staging and Onward Movement (RSOM).

The projection, which involves the movement and transport of the force from national territory to the points of arrival, has been carried out from the port of Vigo and the airports of Santiago de Compostela and Vigo, using as destination points the airports of Bratislava in Slovakia and Ljubljana in Slovenia, and the port of Koper in Slovenia.

The last part of this RSOM process was carried out between the 12th and 18th with the overland movement of more than 100 vehicles from the Port of Koper, in Slovenia, to the facilities of the instruction and training camp of Lešť, in Slovakia. This process involved the unloading and parking of the vehicles and three days of movements, with intermediate stops at the transit bases of Postojna and Murska Sobota in Slovenia, Camp Croft in the town of Veszprém, Hungary, and a final stop at the Lešť training camp facilities in Slovakia.

The force deployment planning is the responsibility of the Operations Command (MOPS in Spanish), while at the tactical level the logistical effort has fallen to the Army units, mainly the Galicia VII Brigade (BRILAT) and the Logistics Brigade (BRILOG).

Once again, mutual support and cooperation between the involved nations has been fundamental in order to carry out this forces deployment. We are aware of the complexity, the necessary coordination and synchronisation in the activities of assigning and managing the available routes, security and escort support, the necessary support at the transit bases and at the border crossings between the different countries.