Danko: Extraordinary Session on Army Modernisation to Take Place on Friday

Bratislava, February 6 (TASR) – An extraordinary parliamentary session devoted to the modernisation of the Slovak army will be held on Friday, February 9, stated Parliamentary chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) at a press conference on Tuesday, in response to the Opposition’s initiative to convene such a session.

The SNS head also promised that Defence Minister Peter Gajdos (SNS) will respond to all MPs’ questions at the session. “I’ve learned to ignore the speculations made by the Opposition. I’m meeting minister Gajdos on Thursday (February 8). If the Opposition has any information, they have the right to convene a session, but I can’t confirm it because I haven’t received any piece of such information,” said Danko in response to a question about whether he’s aware of the disastrous results of the new transporter tests, which were referred to by the Opposition.

Earlier in the day, Opposition MPs from OLaNO, We Are Family and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) stated that they are initiating an extraordinary parliamentary session in order to discuss the modernisation of the Slovak army. The MPs claim that billions of euros designated for the purchase of military equipment must be under public control. OLaNO caucus chairman Richard Vasecka pointed out that SNS is about to silently change the conditions for the purchase of radar worth €60 million.

The OLaNO MP went on to say that the reason behind initiating the extraordinary session is that the modernisation of the Slovak Armed Forces is a very serious matter and must be transparent. “We’re speaking about billions of euros from our joint resources that should be spent on transporters, jet fighters and radar within four electoral terms,” he said.

The Defence Ministry responded that it respects the will of Opposition MPs to convene an extraordinary session and that Gajdos is ready to inform the legislators about the plans and procedures thoroughly.

The Defence Ministry has launched the largest modernisation of the Slovak Armed Forces in Slovakia’s history, involving new 8×8 and 4×4 military armoured vehicles worth €1.2 billion in total.