War Threatens Slovakia, Says Kalinak, While Valasek Points to Russian Aggression

Bratislava, 21 September (TASR) - The threat to Slovakia is posed by the war itself, not by Russia or Ukraine, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) has told media, pointing to stray Russian and Ukrainian drones in this context. "Whenever a stray drone crashes, regardless of whether it's Ukrainian or Russian, it is always assessed. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has also been repeatedly calling for restraint in this regard, stressing the need to determine whether the drone's intended target was the place where it came down. In other words, whether the aim of the drone - be it Russian or Ukrainian - was to attack the country in question. This hasn't been proved in a single case so far, apart from the provocation that was directed towards Poland," said the minister. Kalinak also defended the deployment of Slovak troops to the Baltic states, which was approved by Parliament last Thursday (17 September). "In some cases, we can't avoid taking part in such peacekeeping or defensive missions," he said. In reaction to Kalinak's statements, MP Tomas Valasek (Progressive Slovakia/PS) has told TASR that Russia's aggression against Ukraine is precisely what is responsible for the presence of military drones in the air, prompting also an increased presence of allied troops along its eastern border. "After all, the Alliance itself has clearly identified Russia as a threat in its strategic documents and conclusions, which Slovakia has also signed up to – with President [Peter] Pellegrini, together with Foreign Affairs Minister [Juraj] Blanar and Defence Minister Kalinak, taking part in several summits. So, not even Smer's youth wing believes these excuses, let alone the general public," said Valasek, adding that the state's decision to send Slovak troops to the Baltic states was the right one. Valasek also thinks that an incident similar to those experienced by other NATO member states on the eastern flank could occur in Slovakia as well. It's possible that a stray drone or missile could strike Slovak territory, he said. Parliament last week approved the deployment of up to 101 members of the Slovak Armed Forces to help strengthen the protection of the airspace of NATO's eastern flank member states as part of the Eastern Sentry initiative. Of the 140 MPs present, 129 voted in favour of the proposal, ten abstained, while the only vote against it came from House Vice-chair and Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko. According to him, SNS MPs were given a free hand in the vote. The remaining members of the SNS caucus, with the exception of Dusan Munko, abstained from voting. ko