Peter Bator Becomes New Slovak Ambassador to NATO

Brussels/Bratislava, January 27 (TASR-correspondent) - Peter Bator is the new Slovak Ambassador to NATO as of Wednesday, with Petra Vargova assuming her office of the Slovak Permanent Representative to EU in Brussels five days earlier. Due to the pandemic situation in Europe, both Slovak diplomats had to undergo mandatory quarantine following their arrival in Brussels. Bator presented his letter of credence to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and also had a short meeting with the head of NATO, in which he confirmed Slovakia's commitment to spend two percent of GDP on defence. Also discussed was the adaptation of NATO to the security challenges of the new decade. Peter Bator used to head the political department of the Permanent Representative to NATO's office in 2011-15. In the past, he held various posts in the Foreign and European Ministry as well as the Defence Ministry. He is the founder of the first Slovak website on cybersecurity. Petra Vargova is the first woman to represent Slovakia's interests in Brussels. In 2017-20, she served as the deputy to the previous Slovak ambassador to the EU Peter Javorcik and later headed the European Affairs department of the foreign ministry. mf/mcs