the Army of the Slovak Republic, from which the AF SR were created by gradual transformation by 1 July 2002. The formation of new, fully-fledged Armed Forces of a sovereign state required a transformation from the offensively-minded mass army with a predominance of heavy military equipment into such Armed Forces that are smaller, modern, well-trained and which, in addition to defending the Slovak Republic, would also fulfil international commitments, including participation in operations and missions abroad. A decisive factor in the evolution of the security and defence policy of the Slovak Republic was the fact that the political decision makers were in favour of its Euro-Atlantic orientation. In the period between 1993 and 1997, the first politico-strategic documents of the Slovak republic in the realm of defence were adopted (The Defence Doctrine of the Slovak Republic in 1994, The Fundamental Objectives and Principles of National Security of the Slovak Republic in 1996). They suited the times both in character and content. The fact that the Slovak Republic was not invited to NATO in the first round of enlargement had a significantly negative impact on the overall reform efforts, which at the end of the 90s resulted in a lower readiness levels of the Army of the Slovak Republic. The period from 1998 until 2003 saw qualitative changes in the security and defence policy of the Slovak Republic related to the intensification of integration efforts and the subsequent invitation of the Slovak Republic to negotiations on its accession to NATO. For the first time in the history of the Slovak Republic, standard strategic documents were approved in 2001 (The Security Strategy of the Slovak Republic, The Defence Strategy of the Slovak Republic, and The Military Strategy of the Slovak Republic) which defined the objectives and tasks of the security and defence policy of a democratic state aspiring to join NATO and the EU. Subsequently in 2002, the Long-Term Plan of the Structure and Development of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic - the Development Plan and Programs, Including Their Financial Demands (Model 2010) was adopted. Although it still focused on the individual and territorial defence of the Slovak Republic, it created space for integration with NATO. For the first time, the necessary long-term resource framework of the MoD was defined and guaranteed by resolutions of both the Government and the National Council of the Slovak Republic, which did not, however, materialise. During this period, related legislation that formed the basis for change in the approach to defence capacities development planning, including the Armed Forces in the context of EuroAtlantic integration, was also adopted. In March 2003, as a pre-condition of NATO accession, the Slovak Government approved the Implementation Timetable of Reforms which defined individual reform steps and guaranteed the commitment of the Government of the Slovak Republic to allocate the necessary resources for defence. ) By 30 June 2002, the Armed Forces consisted of three separate elements - the Army of the Slovak Republic, the Troops of the Ministry of Interior and the Railway Troops. From 1 July 2002, the Army of the Slovak Republic was officially renamed as the AF SR (consisted of the Land Forces of the AF SR, the Air Force of the AF SR and the Training and Support Forces of the AF SR) with the Railway Troops and the Troops of the Ministry of Interior dissolved as of 31 December 2002. The Training and Support Forces of the AF SR were dissolved as of 30 November 2014, with their elements amalgamated with other parts of the AF SR. 2 16 WHITE PAPER ON DEFENCE