Blanar: Slovakia Willing to Discuss Increasing Defence Budget Over 2% of GDP (2)

Brussels, April 4 (TASR) - Slovakia is fulfilling its obligation to spend 2 percent of GDP on defence and is ready to discuss increasing this amount, though achieving domestic consensus among relevant political parties is a priority, stated Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar after Thursday's NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. The new head of US diplomacy Marco Rubio, was present at the meeting for the first time. During the working dinner in the NATO-Ukraine format, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also joined the ministers. The ministerial meeting, attended by NATO Chief Mark Rutte, was dominated by the topic of increasing defence spending by NATO member countries, which will also be a key issue at the June summit in The Hague. "A proposal to increase defence spending to as much as five percent of GDP is on the table. I declared on behalf of the Slovak Republic that we are fulfilling our obligation to spend two percent on defence and are ready to discuss further increasing this amount," said Blanar after the meeting. Another topic of the meeting was a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. The head of Slovak diplomacy reiterated Slovakia's position that this conflict has no military solution, it's necessary to end it with an immediate ceasefire, and continue peace talks until a full peace is achieved. "I supported the new US administration and expressed gratitude to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the American peace initiative in the war in Ukraine. None of the member countries at the meeting questioned a peaceful solution to this conflict. The emphasis on this approach came from all sides and received strong support," said Blanar. The Slovak minister also highlighted that Rubio clearly dispelled any doubts that the US might want to "back out" of NATO. On the contrary, Blanar noted that Rubio expressed strong support for the North Atlantic Alliance on behalf of the USA. "Our task in Europe now is to take on a greater share of responsibility for our own security," added Blanar. The Slovak minister left Brussels for Italy on Thursday, where on Friday and Saturday, he will join the delegation of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini. lin