Fico Doesn't See Adopting Country's Security Strategy as Major Topic

Bratislava, November 11 (TASR) - Head of Smer-SD Robert Fico stated on Monday in reaction to Independent MP Martin Fedor"s efforts to submit the country's security strategy to Parliament that he doesn"t view approving the document as a major topic, adding that nothing can be changed about the current strategy. "Slovakia has to have the best relations with the engines of the EU. We"re a NATO-member country. But at the same time we"re a country that"s interested in having good relations with countries that aren"t members of NATO and the EU," said Fico, adding that if anything were changed in the current strategy, it would be mere changing words for different words. Fedor announced on November 7 that he intends to submit Slovakia's Security Strategy and Defence Strategy to Parliament in the same wording as approved by the government in 2017. The updated version of these documents, however, still haven"t been presented to Parliament since then. He pointed to the government resolution from October 4, 2017, based on which both strategies should have been submitted to Parliament. The last security strategy that was approved by Parliament is a document from 2005. The government unanimously approved the Defence and Security Strategies of the Slovak Republic in October 2017. The Security Strategy is a public document in the field of the country's security policy. It reflects the interconnectedness of the internal and external dimensions of security and thus the need for a comprehensive approach to security policy. Its key element is the continuity of the pro-European and pro-Atlantic orientation of Slovakia's security policy based on a wide political consensus. Parliamentary Chair and Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko stated on November 8 in response to Fedor"s initiative that there was a political agreement concerning Slovakia's Security Strategy that it will be approved by the government, but it won't go to Parliament. The parliamentary chair thinks that the agreement went above the framework of what our EU and NATO partners demanded from Slovakia. zel/mcs