Tonin

Preddvor – Visiting the site of a recent massive wildfire in northern Slovenia on Tuesday, Defence Minister Matej Tonin said that in the future the ministry would dedicate a special helicopter to be on standby in case of fire.

Brussels – Defence Minister Matej Tonin said Slovenia was interested in hosting a regional maintenance base for US-made OshKosh armoured vehicles as he held talks on Thursday with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

Slovenia bought three dozen OshKosh vehicles last year and Tonin noted countries in the Western Balkans were among the buyers as well.

Ljubljana – The Italian Army plans to help Slovenia with up to 30 doctors and nurses as the country battles an increasing number of Covid-19 patients, it was agreed at a meeting between the Slovenian and Italian defence ministers. Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin tweeted this on Wednesday after meeting his Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini.

Ljubljana – Defence Minister Matej Tonin received in Ljubljana on Friday his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho to talk about enhancing cooperation in defence and military matters and in other fields, assessing the bilateral defence and military relations as exceptionally good.

Istanbul – Defence Minister Matej Tonin attended the opening of the IDEF International Defence Industry Fair in Istanbul on Tuesday, where he also met his counterparts from Turkey and Kosovo. According to a statement from the ministry, the main topics discussed were the situation in Afghanistan and the wildfires in Turkey.

One of the priorities of the new Slovenian government, led by Janez Janša, is the restoration of compulsory military service in Slovenia.

Matej Tonin, who is reportedly the new Minister of Defense, said returning the recruiting service was one of the priorities and was already included in the coalition agreement.