Caputova in Watford: NATO Is Main Security Pillar for Slovakia

Caputova in Watford: NATO Is Main Security Pillar for Slovakia

Watford/London, December 4 (TASR-correspondent) – In her address at the North Atlantic Council (NAC) summit in Watford, England on Wednesday, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova said that NATO is still the main pillar of national, European and transatlantic security for Slovakia, adding that this pillar has been working for the last 70 years and we should have no reason to doubt its future.


Caputova drew attention to the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution in former Czechoslovakia. According to her, these events have influenced the formation of the current form of the Alliance.

According to the president, Slovakia has joined the call for member countries to spend more on defence. “We have a realistic and convincing plan to achieve defence spending of 2 percent of GDP by 2024,” she said. In this context, she mentioned Slovakia’s participation in the NATO training mission in Afghanistan called Resolute Support, at the NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia and the provision of training in Iraq.

According to her, the Alliance helped countries on the other side of the Iron Curtain 29 years ago. “We must complete this task, or otherwise someone else will abuse our inaction for their own interests,” said the president. In this context, she pointed out the situation in Georgia and Ukraine.

Caputova and Defence Minister Peter Gajdos (Slovak National Party/SNS) attended a memorial ceremony at the Brookwood Military Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon, paying tribute to Slovak and Czech British Royal Air Force (RAF) officers who died during World War II.