Although similar agreements have already been signed by 23 NATO members, including Poland and Hungary, a significant uproar is disturbing Slovakia for over a week now around the possible defence cooperation agreement with the United States.
The deal, if passed, stipulates giving the right to the US army to use two Slovakian military airports in exchange for access to investments funds aimed at modernizing the country’s armed forces.
Despite the expert’s claims that such an agreement is in no way harmful and is in fact relatively trivial, Slovakian opposition politicians and conspiracy websites haven’t ceased talking about the risk of destroying Slovak sovereignty and the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons on Slovak territory without Slovak consent.
However, being a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty means that Slovakia can’t place or allow nuclear weapons to be placed on its territory even if the government wants to do such a thing.
What’s more interesting, even though the negotiations on the agreement with the US started in 2017, during the government of Smer-HD, its members along with members of Hlas (Voice), founded by the former Smer member Peter Pellegrini, are among the most vocal opponents of the deal.
On top of that, the Prime Minister at the time, Robert Fico, is now calling the deal he helped negotiate treason and betrayal of Slovakian national interests.
Slovakian General Prosecutor Maroš Žilinka, who signed a cooperation agreement with the Russian Office of General prosecutor during his recent visit to Moscow, is another vocal opponent of the agreement.
Most government politicians stand firmly behind the deal. Prime Minister said the agreement would enhance national security and urged people not to believe conspiracies. Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď and Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok also stated their support.
The Slovakian government has already approved the agreement and most of its politicians, such as Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď and Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, stand firm behind it.
Urging people not to believe in conspiracies, Slovakian PM Heger stressed that the defence agreement with the US would enhance national security.
The deal now must be passed in the Parliament, after which it’ll need to be signed by President Zuzana Čaputová, who, usually considered a voice of reason, has not yet supported it, which surprised many.
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