President: Slovakia Ready to Contribute €105 million to Aid Package for Ukraine

        Washington, July 11 (TASR) - Slovakia is ready and willing to support the creation of a new NATO financial package to assist Ukraine, which would mean an increase in Slovakia's contribution by almost €105 million, said President Peter Pellegrini following the first day of talks at the NATO summit in Washington, adding that the condition is that Slovakia can include this amount in defence spending when assessing how it has implemented a level of at least 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in this area.
        "I declared in my speech that Slovakia is ready and willing to support the creation of a new financial package under the auspices of NATO, to which Slovakia will have to contribute an amount approaching €105 million. However, Slovakia can include in this amount any activities that the Slovak government or the Defence Ministry is carrying out or will carry out in relation to Ukraine and in relation to NATO," the Slovak head of state told a press conference in the US capital.
        "Our condition is that we'll be able to include this amount in expenditures on investments in our defence, which is reported as a percentage of GDP," stressed Pellegrini. In this context, he declared that Slovakia has already reached and even slightly exceeded the set threshold of 2 percent of GDP this year.
        Pellegrini is attending the NATO summit in Washington along with Defence Minister Robert Kalinak and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (both Smer-SD). NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed last week that NATO will provide Ukraine with military aid worth €40 billion in 2025.