Kalinak: Nobody Excluded Anyone from Drone Wall, Project Still Being Discussed

Borsa/Bratislava, 24 September (TASR) - The discussions concerning a drone defence system along the EU's eastern flank are only at their beginning, as is the search for an effective system, while "nobody has excluded anyone from the project", said Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) in response to a question from a journalist at a press conference on Wednesday. According to Kalinak, information is being taken out of context by the media in order to subsequently confront politicians with it. He suggested that the information about Slovakia's and Hungary's exclusion is also being taken out of context. Kalinak reiterated that the European Union cannot build and operate a drone defence, and he again denied statements that Slovakia is isolated. On Friday, 26 September, seven EU-member states, representatives from Ukraine and the European Commission are set to discuss accelerating the construction of a so-called "drone wall" along the EU's eastern frontier. Slovakia and Hungary were not invited to the video conference, which was convened by European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius. The opposition criticised the coalition politicians for Slovakia's isolation and dysfunctional foreign policy. jrg/df