• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

NATO's 75th Anniversary Washington Summit brings important conclusions even for Slovakia

Ministry of Defence of The Slovak Republic

12.07.2024

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Robert Kaliňák along with President Peter Pellegrini and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanár attended NATO's 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington, D.C. At the Summit, Allies reached a number of important conclusions, particularly in areas such as strengthening collective defence and deterrence and acknowledging the continued needs to increase the level of defence investment and to provide political and practical assistance to Ukraine.

One of Slovakia's fundamental expectations after the Summit is ensuring continuity of bolstering the deterrence and collective defence measures on the Alliance's Eastern Flank - first and foremost in the area of NATO's Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD). Slovakia is currently taking efforts to restore this capability and to replenish its other capabilities given that its air defence system, fighter aircraft, and some of the Army's platforms were gifted to Ukraine without a permanent replacement. In this context, the implementation of the IAMD Rotational Model remains a key issue. Accordingly, Allied IAMD capabilities will be deployed to secure the airspace over NATO's Eastern Flank on a voluntary basis.

According to the head of the Slovak Defence Ministry, replenishing all missing capabilities is a priority so that Slovakia and the Alliance can push ahead with their defence plans - including supporting the defence industrial base and constructing essential defence infrastructure. Without NATO IAMD on the Eastern Flank, deterrence is ineffective.

The Slovak delegation considers it is essential that the Alliance as an organisation will not become a party to the conflict in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but will rather help coordinate the provision of Allied assistance to Ukraine. Therefore, Slovakia supports the creation of the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), the Allies' funding commitment to providing long-term and predictable assistance to Ukraine, as well as other proposals in support of our eastern neighbour.

Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák underscored that Slovakia will participate in these activities along the lines of its own security interests and political priorities. Under the NATO-approved €40 billion aid package for Ukraine, this means that our assistance will continue to be exclusively humanitarian and non-lethal in nature. This Slovak position is respected by our NATO partners, according to Mr Kaliňák.

The NATO Washington Summit took place in a year in which NATO marked the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Washington Treaty and Slovakia celebrated the 20th anniversary of its entry into NATO.