Brigadier General Milan Čelko, the National Military Representative of the Slovak Republic to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), paid a visit to the Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast (HQ MNC NE) on 10 August 2010.
As the National Military Representative, General Brigadier General Milan Čelko is responsible for all Slovak officers and non-commissioned officers serving outside Slovakia at different NATO headquarters and commands, also at the Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast. He administratively supervises their service taking care of personnel, logistic, financial and any other national support issues. “The main reason [of the visit – ed.] was that three Slovak officers serving here have just come from the ISAF operation,” General Čelko said. “To welcome them, to see them healthy and smiling, to ask them how was it with their families during that time and, of course, to get the freshest experience from the battlefield”, General Čelko explained the reasons for visiting the Szczecin Headquarters. His intention was also to thank the Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast Lieutenant General Rainer Korff for preparing Slovak soldiers for the mission in Afghanistan and taking care of their families.
General Čelko listened to a briefing on the Multinational Corps Northeast and met the MNC NE Commander Lieutenant General Rainer Korff. As he admitted, he learnt only positive things about the Slovak performance during the preparation process and the mission itself. “Moreover, we were talking about the future of this Headquarters, about the new mission for the future up to 2015,” he said about the conversation with General Korff. Nevertheless, most of the time during the visit General Čelko actually spent with Slovak officers talking to them and exchanging experiences.
“This is a special place,” General Čelko said about the Headquarters explaining it is the only headquarters located on the territory of the former Warsaw Pact. He also stressed its true multinational character. “I think this Headquarters has the future and I think it is worth for Slovaks to send officers, maybe in the future also non-commissioned officers, to serve here to get experience from the multinational environment”, General Čelko summarized.
