PM Fico says neutrality would benefit NATO member Slovakia
June 17 (Reuters) - NATO member Slovakia would benefit from being a neutral country, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday, without announcing any plan to take steps in that direction.
"If you ask me, I tell you that in these nonsensical times of arms buildup, when arms companies are rubbing their hands... neutrality would benefit Slovakia very much," he told a press conference shown online.
"But unfortunately this decision is not in my hands," he said, without giving details, although any decision by Slovakia to leave NATO would be a complex process that would include a decision by parliament.
No NATO member has left the alliance since it was founded in 1949.
Slovakia, which is also a European Union member, has diverged from Western allies in its position on Ukraine under Fico and his leftist-nationalist government coalition, and stopped official state military aid to Kyiv as it battles Russia's invasion.
Fico was speaking before a meeting on Tuesday between Slovak political party leaders and President Peter Pellegrini ahead of a NATO summit on June 24-25.
NATO leaders will discuss increasing their defence and related spending gradually to 5% of gross domestic product, with 3.5% for military spending and 1.5% for infrastructure and other security-related projects.
Fico said any defence spending increase would have to be gradual and for dual military and civilian use, and that Slovakia could achieve requested military capabilities for less.
He also said he did not understand the need for a buildup in military capacities, which is the main focus of NATO's efforts to deter Russia after its attack against Ukraine.
"Would neutrality suit Slovakia? I am putting this question very officially and clearly," he said in response to a question during a briefing at the country's economy ministry.
"What war are we talking about? Who are we going to fight with?" Fico said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
32 nations but only one man matters - Nato's summit is all about Trump
Nato summits tend to be "pre-cooked", not least to present a united General Mark Rutte has already settled on the menu for their meeting at The Hague: one that will avoid a row with Nato's most powerful member, the US.A commitment to increase defence spending by European allies is the dish that President Donald Trump wants served – and that's exactly what he'll be getting. Though there will inevitably be the added ingredients of compromise and will the summit be able to paper over the cracks between Trump and many of his European allies on trade, Russia and the escalating conflict in the Middle US president, whose mantra is America First, is not a huge fan of multinational has been highly critical of Nato too – even questioning its very foundation of collective defence. In Trump's first term, at his first Nato summit, he berated European allies for not spending enough and owing the US "massive amounts of money".On that message he has at least been consistent. Mark Rutte, who has a good relationship with the US president, has worked hard to give him a summit takes place at the World Forum in The Hague over two days, on Tuesday and Wednesday next the main discussions will last just three hours and the summit statement is being reduced to five paragraphs, reportedly because of the US president's is one of 32 leaders from the Western defensive alliance who are coming, along with the heads of more than a dozen partner police have mounted their biggest ever security operation for the most expensive Nato summit so far, at a cost of €183.4m (£155m; $210m).Some have suggested the brevity of the summit is in part to cater to the US president's attention span and dislike of long meetings. But a shorter summit with fewer subjects discussed will, more importantly, help hide Arnold, of the defence think tank Rusi, says Trump likes to be the star of the show and predicts he'll be able to claim that he's forced European nations to truth he's not the first US president to criticise allies' defence spending. But he's had more success than most. Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to Nato, admits that some European governments do not like the way Trump's gone about it – demanding that allies spend 5% of their GDP on defence. Europe still only accounts for 30% of Nato's total military spending. Volker says many Europeans now admit they that "we needed to do this, even if it's unfortunate that it took such a kick in the pants".Some European nations are already boosting their defence spending to 5% of their GDP. Most are the countries living in close proximity to Russia – such as Poland, Estonia and not just Trump who's been piling on the pressure. Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is forcing a in reality many Nato members will struggle to meet the new target. A few haven't met the goal of 2%, set more than a decade compromise formula is for allies to increase their core defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, with an additional 1.5% towards defence-related the definition of defence-related expenditure appears to be so vague that it might be rendered meaningless. Rutte says it could include the cost of industry of infrastructure – building bridges, roads and railways. Ed Arnold, of Rusi, says it'll inevitably lead to more "creative accounting".Even if, as expected, the new spending target is approved, some nations may have little intent of reaching it – by 2032 or 2035. The timescale's still unclear. Spain's prime minister has already called it unreasonable and counterproductive. Sir Keir Starmer hasn't even been able to say when the UK will spend 3% of its GDP of defence. The UK prime minister only said that it was an ambition some time in the next parliament. However, given the UK government's stated policy of putting Nato at the heart of the UK's defence policy, Sir Keir will have to back the new real danger is to interpret the demand for an increase in defence spending as arbitrary, a symbolic gesture – or just bowing to US pressure. It's also driven by Nato's own defence plans on how it would respond to an attack by Russia. Rutte himself has said that Russia could attack a Nato country within five years. Those defence plans remain secret. But Rutte's already set out what the Alliance is lacking. In a speech earlier this month he said Nato needed a 400% increase in its air and missile defences: thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks, and millions more artillery shells. Most member states, including the UK, do not yet meet their Nato capability commitments. It's why Sweden plans to double the size of its army and Germany is looking to boost its troop numbers by 60, plans go into granular detail as to how the Alliance will defend its Eastern flank should Russia invade. In a recent speech, the head of the US Army in Europe, General Christopher Donahue, highlighted the need to defend Polish and Lithuanian territory near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. He said the Alliance had looked at its existing capabilities and "realised very quickly they are not sufficient".Yet, strangely, specific discussions about Russia and the war in Ukraine will be muted. It's the one big issue that now divides Europe and America. Kurt Volker says, under Trump, the US "does not see Ukrainian security as essential to European security but our European allies do".Trump has already shattered Nato's united front by talking to Putin and withholding military support to Arnold says contentious issues have been stripped from the summit. Not least to avoid a schism with Trump. Leaders were supposed to discuss a new Russia strategy, but it's not on the President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to the summit dinner, but he won't be taking part in the main discussions of the North Atlantic will be hoping that his first summit as secretary general will be short and sweet. But with Trump at odds with most of his allies on Russia, the greatest threat facing the Alliance, there's no guarantee it'll go according to plan.
Times
42 minutes ago
- Times
Inside Patek Philippe, where watchmaking runs in the family
Coming up with a new watch isn't a nine-to-five job for Thierry Stern, the president of watchmaking house Patek Philippe. It's more of a 24-hour preoccupation. 'I get new ideas when I'm sleeping,' he says. Even though he had to give up being head of the creative division when he took over the leadership role from his father in 2009, he says he's still very hands-on with new timepieces. 'To me, designing's the best part and I don't want to give it up.' Quadruple Complication A showpiece of highly sophisticated micro-engineering, featuring a minute repeater, a tourbillon, an instantaneous perpetual calendar and a split-seconds or rattrapante ('catch up') function, housed in an elegant white gold case. £1,060,000 He's at Watches and Wonders, the international watch fair held in his home town of Geneva, to meet clients and collectors and also keep an eye on what competitors are up to. 'Other watchmaking companies might complain, 'We don't know what to do. Everything has been done,' ' he says. 'But for me, creating new watches is a passion. It's my favourite activity and I'm quite good at it.' Founded in 1839, Patek Philippe is the last remaining family-run haute horlogerie house in Geneva. Thierry is the fourth generation of the Stern family that has run the business since 1932, with his grandfather Henri becoming president in 1958 followed by his father, Philippe, in 1993, now honorary president. The house is renowned for timepieces considered by connoisseurs and collectors to be among the world's finest. They're characterised by a refined and timeless aesthetic as well as trailblazing technical innovations, from chiming minute repeaters to perpetual calendars, which have earned the company more than 100 patents. Cubitus Adding to the handsome 'square with rounded edges' Cubitus family, launched last autumn, are two new relatives with a slightly smaller case size at a versatile 40mm, in rose gold paired with brown and also in white gold with a blue dial. £65,600 As an independent manufacture with everything done in-house — from R&D and creating and engineering all complications to assembly — Patek Philippe benefits from full creative freedom. That's what allows Stern to keep dreaming about bezels and bridges. The creation process begins with a four-strong team. 'We share experiences of travelling, relating feedback from international markets, from retailers and clients,' he says. But mostly, 'We think of new ideas for watches. I always push to the limit — the others are perhaps too respectful to do this; they need me for the edge. Then we imagine if the idea can fit into our collections and whether clients will accept them.' Turning the dream into reality takes a long time. 'We work three years in advance. What you see today we finished a year ago and started the project two years before that. We're now working on watches for 2028.' New-movement projects can take a minimum of 4-5 years, and a supercomplicated calibre 10-12 years. 'The target at Patek is two innovations each year,' Stern says. Projects can span decades. 'There's a clock in the new collection we just unveiled and it's one I started 15 years ago — I had to convince the commercial team and, at the time, my dad — and now I have it.' Calatrava A striking daily wearer, a fresh take on the reference first launched in 1932. Now in platinum, the 38mm piece continues the range's Bauhaus-inspired minimalist aesthetic and its clean, opaline rose-gilt dial delivers a vintage vibe. £40,370 Passing the horological legacy to a new generation is hardwired into the firm. 'You won't be excellent in watchmaking until you have a minimum of ten years' experience. That's what I'm teaching my sons now. I ask them, 'Are you really motivated to work for Patek?' You need the passion, the drive. They have it: my older son, who's 23, is already working with us, then my younger son has to finish school. I tell them they need to learn from the ground up and stay down to earth. That's important. I say, 'You can always ask me, as I learnt from my father and grandfather.' ' Keeping it in the family is the secret to Patek's success, Stern maintains. 'It helps in times of decision making — there's no one pushing me,' he adds. 'There are no shareholders to please. It's a chess game. I have my plans.'
Times
42 minutes ago
- Times
A grand design — the watch that captures the spirit of Ferrari
'And this is Alain,' says Amanda Mille, the brand and partnerships director at the company her father, Richard, founded. We are in Paris at the Palais de Tokyo to see the unveiling of Richard Mille's new collaboration with Ferrari. And the Alain who has just been so insouciantly introduced is none other than Alain Prost, racing legend and winner of four Formula 1 world championships. Between 1990 and 1991 the Frenchman was a Ferrari driver, and this is why he is here today, along with a more recent alumnus of the team's school, the Brazilian Felipe Massa, who raced for Scuderia Ferrari from 2006 to 2013. Massa also has the distinction of being the first brand partner to sign up with Richard Mille, back in 2004 when the company was a fledgling business making only about 300 watches a year. He talks fondly of how he agreed to wear a watch as a test driver at a time before Richard Mille had any formal budget for such things. The relationship has endured, and Massa always raced wearing a Richard Mille. The RM 43-01 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph Ferrari, POA, The luxury Swiss watchmaker launched in 2001 with the aim of crafting thoroughly modern timepieces. A fan of motors and motor racing, Mille described his supertechnical lightweight designs as being like 'a racing machine on the wrist'. His son Alexandre, the company's commercial director, says, 'For my father, this partnership with Ferrari is a dream come true.' Beyond the synergies of quality, technology and innovation that connect the two firms, both are also clearly about passion. Massa puts it well: 'It is a great pleasure to be part of [Richard Mille] history, being part of the family. It is like when you enter Ferrari — you are always a Ferrari driver from the beginning and part of the 'religion'.' The Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who now drives for the team, would surely agree. He has been supported by Richard Mille since 2009, when he was karting. Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari's chief design officer, sees the two brands as natural partners. 'A collaboration like this is as much predicated on similarities in values as it is on the visual similarities between a Ferrari engine or component and the elements in a watch.' The first Richard Mille and Ferrari joint effort, 2022's RM UP-01 Ferrari, is a 1.75mm-thin timepiece, a curious and distinctive design that references dials on a dashboard. But the new launch is more recognisably Richard Mille. The RM 43-01 has the firm's signature barrel shape and skeleton construction. But it is not a piece that has simply been badged with a Ferrari logo: the watchmaker worked closely with Ferrari's Centro Stile in Maranello, near Modena, for three years to express the spirit of the cars in the form of a timepiece. It is the beauty of the RM 43-01 as much as its performance that captures the attention. The oscillating tourbillon compensates for the impact of gravity and the chronograph can measure split times with its two seconds hands, but it is the crafted look and feel — and the echoes of the driving machines — that really set it apart. The clutch wheel of a Ferrari V8 engine inspired the barrel jewel setting, while x-shaped supports combined with screws in gold with hexagonal socket heads reference details on Ferrari crankcases and engine blocks. The pushers, case and indices take styling cues from the geometry of the bodies of Ferrari's SF90 Stradale, Daytona SP3 and 488 Challenge Evo models, while a titanium plate shaped to recall the rear wing of the 499P hypercar is engraved with the firm's famous prancing horse motif. 'In terms of performance, anything that has a technical purpose can also be beautiful,' Manzoni says. 'The concept of functional beauty is something that we really love.' And clearly Richard Mille loves it too.
