Premier: Slovakia Won't Support Increase in Spending on Weapons Systems

       Bratislava, 23 June (TASR) - Slovakia won't support any increase in spending on the purchase of weapons systems above the 2025 level in the 2026 state budget, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated on Monday, adding that the state must reserve to itself the sovereign right to decide at what pace and structure it is prepared to increase the budget of the Defence Ministry in order to achieve the NATO plan in 2035.
        The premier further argues that any increase in the defence budget for 2026 will only be used for dual-purpose projects such as hospitals and road infrastructure, TASR was told by the Government Office's press department.
        "The Slovak Republic has other priorities than armaments in the coming years at a time of recovering public finances and catching up with the average standard of living in the European Union," stated Fico.
        The prime minister went on to say that the majority of NATO member states support a sharp increase in defence spending, up to 5 percent of GDP in 2035, pointing out that Slovakia is a NATO member state and has to decide whether to respect its membership obligations or to adopt a different solution in the future. "Moreover, Slovakia is able to achieve NATO requirements without a dramatic increase in arms spending to 5 percent of GDP," he added.
        In this context, the premier pointed out that all international political, security and legal mechanisms designed to take decisions and mandates for the use of military force in conflict resolution had failed. The powers are taking these decisions individually, leading to an unprecedented deterioration of the security situation with a real risk of a new global military conflict, he said.
        "There is much more talk today about large-scale armaments and a possible global military conflict than about peace or raising people's living standards," opined Fico.