President: Slovakia Enjoys Benefits of Collective Defence Thanks to NATO

Bratislava, March 29 (TASR) - Slovakia enjoys the benefits of collective defence thanks to its NATO membership; however, the country mustn't forget about Article Three of the treaty, i.e. the obligation to be capable of defending itself before the arrival of allies, President Peter Pellegrini said during his visit to the NATO Force Integration Unit in Slovakia at Vajnory Barracks in Bratislava on Saturday. "If we talk about the future of NATO, we've agreed that Slovakia wants to be part of the European (defence) pillar of NATO. We perceive that the USA, as our biggest alliance partner, is pressuring its allies in the European Union to fulfil their commitment to a similar extent as the USA itself, and therefore strengthening the European pillar within NATO seems completely logical today," stated Pellegrini. He stressed that the defence money must be spent in an effective manner. The head of the state thinks that the fact that Slovakia isn't part of the so-called alliance of the willing shouldn't be viewed tragically. There were several defence summits or initiatives to send troops to Ukraine that took place outside the NATO and EU structures, but in the end they turned to be ahead of reality, he said. Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) at a joint news conference stated that some countries have a problem with not being invited to peace talks on the war in Ukraine. According to him, Slovakia's strong representation in NATO is proven by the fact that the country is sending soldiers to the NATO multinational brigade in the Baltics. Kalinak reiterated that he respects the different opinion of his coalition partner, the Slovak National Party (SNS), on this issue. ko