FICO brings NATO exit of Slovakia into play-Diepresse.com

A week before the NATO summit in the Haag, the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico brought his country out of the defense alliance. With a view to the five percent destination for the debate in the Haag, Fico compared NATO with a golf club on Tuesday on Tuesday and wrote, either the Slovakia « the new membership fee »-« or we leave NATO ».

Fico continued to write that « condition » for any consent to the additional expenditure is that the Slovak government could « use the funds at its own discretion ». Bratislava should spend the money mainly on projects that could have both civil and military benefits, called Fico hospitals and streets.

With a view to the five percent goal of the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Fico wrote that it was « absolutely absurd to spend so much for defense ». Slovakia has « not the means » for this. “Neutrality” is worthwhile for the country.

Fico received a lot of criticism

In addition to opposition politicians, the President Peter Pellegrini, who is close to him, also practiced sharp criticism of Fico’s statements. Fico is « a master in overloading public space with a topic that we will discuss every 20 days without anything being achieved, » said Pellegrini and added: « Our neutrality would cost us much more than our membership in NATO. »

Slovakia has been a member of NATO since 2004. The Central European EU member country has been fulfilling the two percent goal since 2022, which the NATO countries had agreed on in 2014. Until Fico’s return to the office of Prime Minister in October 2023, Slovakia was one of the determined supporters of the neighboring country of Ukraine attacked by Russia. Under the leadership of the left -wing populist, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the country hired all military aid for Kiev.

NATO Secretary General Rutte has been promoting the five percent goal for weeks. His proposal stipulates that NATO countries will spend at least 3.5 percent of their annual economic output for defense spending and 1.5 percent of GDP for defense-relevant infrastructure by 2032. (APA/AFP)