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Czech Republic handed over its NATO Contact Point Embassy Function to Slovenia

09.02.2021 / 16:44 | Aktualizováno: 09.02.2021 / 16:47

The Czech Embassy to Austria held the position of a NATO Contact Point Embassy (CPE) from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020. Ms. Katarína Hynková, a diplomat of the Embassy, strived to promote NATO´s credentials for safeguarding security of the Euro-Atlantic Area - to which Austria belongs. On January 28, 2021, she was awarded for her work with a Military Recognition Medal by the Austrian Minister of Defence, Klaudia Tanner. Czech Ambassador Ivana Červenková used this opportunity for a formal handover of the function to the upcoming CPE, the Embassy of Slovenia.

The Czech Republic served as NATO CPE in many partner countries, adjusting its ambitions to the needs and wishes of each partner.  In Lithuania, at the dawn of the millennium, the Czech CPE was proud to share its accession experiences; in the State of Israel, it supported creating the Israeli-Atlantic Forum and in Amman, it facilitated presentation of a Jordanian female commando at the NATO Days in Ostrava. Returning to Vienna for the second time, the Czech CPE again respected the environment and policies of the country.

Austria is a well-respected member of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program, contributor to the Euro-Atlantic Security, not least thanks to its significant participation in the NATO-led operations, such as KFOR. Therefore both, NATO and Austria, are interested in military cooperation and interoperability.

We had no ambition nor capacity to affect Austrian choices on ensuring national security. Organizing a number of concrete activities, however, the Czech CPE imported useful NATO and Czech experiences to Austria. High-ranking Austrian officers, parliamentarians and experts were able to meet, e.g., NATO Military Committee Chairman, General Petr Pavel; Deputy Commander of the Multinational Division North East, BG Karel Řehka; then prominent think-thanker and today´s MEP Alexander Vondra; et al. The CPE organized several expert seminars, e. g. on Resilience, on Defence Capability Building, on NATO Nuclear Deterrence, and more. Through a social event, we remembered NATO and PfP anniversaries in the Austrian Military Museum. We also brought NATO experts to the military commands in Graz and Salzburg.

It would have been hard to work alone. Many thanks to our partners at the Austrian Ministry of Defence and the National Defence Academy, to the Czech Permanent Delegation to NATO, to Prague ministries as well as to the Czech NGO Jagello2000!

Copyright: Czech Embassy in Vienna