SNS Rejects Increased Defence Spending

Bratislava 2 June (TASR) - The coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) disagrees with the increase in defence spending supported by President Peter Pellegrini on Monday and claims that more than €3.5 billion would have to be allocated annually for defence, TASR learnt from Zuzana Skopcova, head of the office of the SNS chairman, on the same day. Party chairman Andrej Danko also shared a statement on social media. "If the European Union continues down the path of increasing military spending on this scale, the next step is economic destruction, and that is only a small step away from a global conflict. Anyone who doesn't see such a threat is an irresponsible politician. We hope that our government will increasingly speak out in Brussels," said Danko. According to the SNS leader, EU armies should cooperate, and not every state needs to have everything. He claimed that the Union lacks any kind of coherent concept, however. Danko stated that defence spending at 3.5 percent of GDP would amount to over €3.5 billion. "Not even two transaction taxes would cover that," he wrote on social media. "We hope that the president will reconsider the entire concept of defence spending. Instead of spending billions on defence, we could be building highways and hospitals," he stated, adding that schools also currently lack funds. Upon arriving at the summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) leaders in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Monday, Pellegrini confirmed that Slovakia would support the proposed increase in the defence spending of NATO-member states from 2 to 3.5 plus an additional 1.5 percent of each country's gross domestic product. mf/df