Groehling: SaS Interested in Increasing Slovakia's Defence Spending

Bratislava, 17 June (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is interested in increasing Slovakia's defence spending, its leader Branislav Groehling told a news conference before the round-table discussion on increasing defence spending organised by President Peter Pellegrini on Tuesday. According to Groehling, the country must also become part of the coalition of the willing in Europe and show that it takes security seriously. "We also demand a clear plan for what we'll invest in. Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) is currently acting in a truly non-transparent manner, without a plan and without any public supervision. At the moment, there is no meaningful document that explains what exactly we are going to invest billions of euros in," noted Groehling. The party therefore proposes setting up a supervisory commission that would feature representatives of all relevant parties. Its role would be to oversee defence spending. "We'll demand the establishment of a commission that will meet quarterly to evaluate how the Defence Ministry is fulfilling its commitments regarding investing in modernisation, infrastructure, etc," said MP Juraj Krupa (SaS). SaS also wants to convene a special session of the parliamentary defence and security committee. It would like to invite the chief of the general staff to come there and explain what the Slovak army really needs and what capabilities Slovakia lacks. President Pellegrini will receive representatives of parliamentary parties at a round-table debate on security issues at the Presidential Palace at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. ko/df