KDH to Take Part in Roundtable Talks Convened by SaS (2)

Bratislava, March 18 (TASR) - The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) will take part in opposition roundtable talks to be convened by Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) on Wednesday (March 19), TASR learnt from the KDH press department on Tuesday. KDH detailed that it perceives the Wednesday's roundtable as a preparation for the future talks with President Peter Pellegrini. "The bolstering of defence spending must be based on common sense and not hysteria. Any decisions must be backed by a consensus within the EU and NATO, and reflect Slovakia's economic situation," underlined the Christian Democrats. KDH also accentuated that the President bears his part of the responsibility for Slovakia's foreign affairs orientation. "In this critical moment, he should say clearly that Slovakia must be part of the solution, not a hindrance," it said. Last week, the opposition's SaS announced it will convene a roundtable of opposition parties on March 19 to discuss defence capabilities of Europe and the increase in defence spending. Head of SaS Branislav Groehling declared that the opposition roundtable on defence is only the first in a series of talks on several issues of consequence, with more meetings on education, justice, health and finances to follow. President Peter Pellegrini will convene a roundtable talks on the bolstering of Slovakia's defence capability on March 26, to which he plans to invite chairs of parliamentary parties who received the invitation to previous roundtable talks, as well as Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) and chief of Slovak Armed Forces' General Staff Daniel Zmeko. mf