Pellegrini: Slovakia to Seek Compromise in Increasing Defence Spending

Vilnius/Bratislava, July 2 (TASR) - Slovakia doesn't intend to be a country that blocks consensus on increasing defence spending among NATO-member states, but "a major discussion still lies ahead of us," declared Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on Monday after the summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) leaders in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Slovak president explained that, according to the proposal, NATO-member states should gradually increase their direct defence spending from the current 2 percent of GDP to 3.5 percent, while putting another 1.5 percent into so-called dual-use investments. "But, of course, the question remains: how quickly should these goals be reached? One idea currently on the table suggests that member countries could increase these expenditures by 0.2 percent each year, which would mean reaching the goal in about seven years," he clarified. However, the president stated that during the talks, Slovakia would prefer a minimum of ten years for countries to gradually reach these targets. He also called for some flexibility in meeting the objectives. "I made it clear that Slovakia will be a responsible partner that won't dig in its heels or block consensus but will instead seek paths to a compromise," added Pellegrini. He emphasised the need to take into account the capabilities and limitations of the national budgets of individual countries, while pointing out that there are EU nations that still haven't even reached the currently set 2 percent of GDP for defence. In this context, he said that an important discussion will take place at the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, in three weeks. Preparations for that summit were the main topic of the meeting in Vilnius. "You know, it has become clear — and the war in Ukraine has revealed it in full — that Europe, and specifically the European part of NATO, isn't capable of defending itself in any way without the involvement of the United States against a power like Russia, with its massive army and vast military-industrial complex," said Pellegrini. That is precisely why, in his view, there's a need to discuss strengthening the European pillar within NATO. mf/df