President: Tough Debate on Military Spending Increase ahead of NATO States

Bratislava, February 20 (TASR) - There's a difficult debate ahead of NATO member states regarding increase in percentage of their military spending and at what pace this spending can be achieved, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said following his meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday. According to Pellegrini, Slovakia is aware of the moral investment debt in equipping its army. The Slovak head of state stressed that it does matter what the money going to defence is used for, noting that 20 percent should go for modernisation. "I can proudly say that in Slovakia, as much as 35 percent of expenditures are directed towards modernisation and not just the mere existence or functioning of the army," he said. He added that it will be important for Slovakia not only to increase the amount of money allocated for defence, but also to increase the share it allocates for modernisation. Rutte thinks that spending even 3 percent of GDP annually on defence won't be enough and that a specific target will need to be agreed within the Alliance. The NATO secretary-general stressed that the timetable for achieving this goal will have to be ambitious. According to him, defence spending should be discussed in The Hague this year. Pellegrini declared that Slovakia is and will be a solid member state of NATO, it isn't interested in changing its anchoring either in the European Union or in the Alliance. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte arrived for an official visit to Slovakia on Thursday. In addition to the president, he met Defence Minister Robert Kalinak and Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (both Smer-SD). ko/mcs