Slovak Prime Minister Names New Defense Minister

WARSAW — Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico appointed Lt. Gen. Peter Gajdos to serve as the country's new defense minister. The general is a candidate of the right-wing Slovak National Party (SNS), which is the coalition partner of the prime minister's left-wing SMER party.

Meanwhile, local opposition daily Denník N reports that Gajdos has acquired a reputation of a decision-maker with pro-Russian leanings during his term at the General Staff.

Gajdos had served as the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces. In the late 1990s, he collaborated with Jan Sitek, a politician of the SNS party who served as Slovakia's Defense Minister from 1994 to 1998. The SNS, which served as a coalition partner in the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, opposed Slovakia's accession to NATO. Despite this, the country joined the alliance in 2004.

The general is a graduate of the Moscow-based M.V. Frunze Military Academy, but, following the end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989, he pursued further studies in the Netherlands and the UK.

The cabinet reshuffle follows the March 5 parliamentary election. The country's new parliament has its first session on March 23. The resignation of Fico's government paves the way for the approval of his new cabinet by the parliament.

More In Europe

Saab unveils technology incubator using Enforcer 3 as test bed

“We are trying to get capability to the fleet in months,” said Erik Smith, the chief executive of Saab's U.S. branch.

Lockheed to supply Australia with air battle management system

Overhauling Australia’s overhead defenses is expected to generate hundreds of local jobs as well as open the door to a multibillion-dollar export market.

Defense Innovation Unit prepares to execute $800 million funding boost

DIU Director Doug Beck said he doesn’t foresee any issues with quickly putting to work the $983 million in FY-24 funding Congress provided in March.

Army may swap AI bill of materials for simpler ‘baseball cards’

"We know innovation's happening in the open-source environment," said the Army's Bharat Patel. "We also know who's contributing to the open source."

How L3Harris is shoring up its small satellite supply chain

The president of L3Harris’ space systems sector, recently sat down with C4ISRNET to discuss the challenges of developing a diverse yet mature supply base.