Kalinak: Slovakia's Defence Spending Plan Credible and Sustainable

Bratislava/Ankara, 7 July (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia's plan to increase defence spending is credible and sustainable, with the sharp rise in expenditure also covering dual-use projects, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) told reporters on Tuesday while travelling to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. TASR learnt the news from its special correspondent assigned to cover the event. Kalinak described the meeting of Allied leaders as important, particularly for strengthening military capabilities. In this context, he argued that the key measure is not the percentage of GDP spent on defence but whether a country possesses the military capabilities it is expected to have. He also underlined the need to strengthen the defence industry. "The defence industry will play a much more important role. Not only the defence industry, but logistics as well. All of this is linked to the experience gained from the conflicts that have taken place in our region," he said. According to Kalinak, leaders of NATO member states and partner countries are also expected to discuss balancing European and US contributions to collective defence, adding that defence spending should ideally be shared equally between Europe and the United States. At the same time, he said he did not expect major disputes in Ankara. "If relations were really that bad, the individual leaders would not be attending," he said. Slovak President Peter Pellegrini travelled to Ankara on Tuesday together with Kalinak and Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) to attend the NATO summit. The main part of the summit will culminate in a session of Allied leaders on Wednesday, 8 July. On Thursday, 9 July, the president is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. mf