Medved Macikova: No NATO Member State Managed to Negotiate Any Exemption

Bratislava, 26 June (TASR) - If Slovak National Party (SNS) chairman Andrej Danko had read the final resolution from the NATO summit in the Hague, he would have found out that no member state managed to negotiate any exemption, President Peter Pellegrini's spokesperson Patricia Medved Macikova has told TASR in reaction to SNS's criticism. "All NATO members, including Spain, on Wednesday (25 June) declared their intention to increase defence and security spending over ten years, with the pace of this increase being up to each sovereign government - including the Slovak one, of which the SNS is a part," stated Medved Macikova. The junior governing SNS party lambasted Pellegrini for agreeing to the NATO commitment of increasing defence spending to 5 percent of GDP and warned that such a commitment, signed by the president, could cause serious economic problems for Slovakia’s economy by 2035. According to the party, this percentage needs to be reduced within the next decade. "The Spanish prime minister managed to delay the commitment to allocate five percent of GDP to defence investment. Slovakia, however, failed to use this opportunity or its diplomatic contacts to have Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) prepare conditions in advance for the president's negotiations," said Danko's spokesperson Zuzana Skopcova. The party also stated that the Slovak government, led by Robert Fico (Smer-SD), did not make full use of the options available under international law. SNS voiced hope that this commitment would not be fulfilled by Slovakia in the future. „It’s a great pity that the President did not stand alongside the Spanish prime minister, who negotiated a significant concession for Spain,” the statement said. Earlier on Wednesday, NATO member states agreed to increase their defence spending to five percent of GDP by 2035. ko/mcs