Slovakia

the Slovak military is responsible for external defense and fulfilling Slovakia’s commitments to European and international security; Slovakia has been a member of both the EU and NATO since 2004; a key focus of the Slovak military is fulfilling the country’s security responsibilities to NATO, including modernizing and acquiring NATO-compatible equipment, participating in training exercises, and providing forces for security missions such as NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic States; since 2022, Slovakia has hosted a multinational NATO ground force battlegroup as part of the NATO effort to boost the defenses of Eastern Europe since the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Slovakia also contributes to EU and UN peacekeeping missions the Slovak Air Force has only a handful of fighter aircraft and is assisted by NATO’s air policing mission over Slovakia, which includes fighter aircraft from Czechia and Poland; in 2022, Slovakia signed a defense agreement with the US that allows the US to use two Slovak military air bases (2025)

200 Cyprus (UNFICYP); up to 150 Latvia (NATO)  (2025)

Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (Ozbrojene Sily Slovenskej Republiky): Ground Forces (Slovenské Pozemné Sily), Air Forces (Slovenské Vzdušné Sily), Special Operations Forces (Sily Pre Speciálne Operácie) Ministry of Interior: Slovak Police Force (SPF or Policajný Zbor) (2025)

note: the SPF has sole responsibility for internal and border security

minimum age is 18 for voluntary service for men and women; citizens 18-65 can volunteer for the military reserves (2026)

the military's inventory is a mix of domestically produced, Soviet-era, and more modern/NATO-compatible armaments from suppliers such as Germany and the US (2025)

approximately 17,000 active-duty military personnel (2025)