Slovakia is actively committed to building a common European defence. How have its parameters evolved this year and where is Slovakia contributing?

NATO members and the Alliance enter into four types of external partnerships with non-member countries. Priority is given to counter-terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and civilian contingency planning. The partners include 40 countries, including Mauritania, Mongolia and Bahrain.

Some duplications - or rather thematic overlaps - between the forthcoming EU Strategic Compass and the NATO Strategic Concept will be inevitable, but also necessary, writes NIKLAS NOVÁKY. According to him, the parallel preparation of both documents will bring a unique opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the EU and NATO. They have different roles and competences.

According to a survey of experts, the Union needs to focus its crisis management in the coming years on its southern and eastern neighbourhood. They consider the fight against hybrid threats, cyber defence and the protection of critical infrastructure to be the most important tasks that the Union's military mechanisms should address.