Slovak police in failed bid to arrest ex-defence chief over aid to Ukraine

Police in Slovakia have tried to arrest ex-defence minister Jaroslav Nad over aid donations to Ukraine, in a case he has condemned as politically motivated.Slovak media said police had gone to his home on Wednesday morning but the former minister was not there. He later said he was on holiday abroad and proud of his actions.Police said the case had been initiated by the EU's European Public Prosecutor's Office in Bratislava which said eight people had been detained on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged misuse of €7.4m (£6.3m) in funds.However, it also exposes the political rift in Slovakia over the war in Ukraine.
The current defence minister in Prime Minister Robert Fico's populist-nationalist government has accused Jaroslav Nad of treason for giving fighter jets to Ukraine. And Wednesday's police operation came to light a day after Fico floated the idea of neutrality for Slovakia, which has been a Nato member since 2004.On the second day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the defence ministry under Slovakia's previous government ordered the immediate purchase of 12,000 rounds of 120mm mortar ammunition from state-owned defence company Konstrukta.The state had previously sold off the obsolete ammunition to Konstrukta, but according to the Dennik N newspaper bought it back for more than they had it sold it for.Slovakia's Supreme Audit Office (NKU) has since flagged the buyback as legally and financially irregular.In its statement, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said it suspected the procedure for buying military aid for Ukraine was "rigged and that the ammunition may have been overpriced".Of the eight people it said had been detained were four officials from the ministry of defence.However, Jaroslav Nad, who now heads the Demokrati party, which has no seats in parliament, says the entire case is built on the fact that the previous government had come to Ukraine's aid."The ruling coalition needs to show its voters that their promises — that I would end up in prison for this help — are being fulfilled," he told the BBC from the Canadian city of Calgary."It is purely and simply a political process, and it demonstrates the pro-Russian direction of the Slovak government and the emerging autocracy in the style of Russia or Belarus."Senior ministers in the Fico government – who came to power on a promise to halt military aid to Ukraine – have denied allegations of political interference.Defence Minister Robert Kalinak told reporters that criminal proceedings were initiated based on an audit office report and were now continuing independently under the European Public Prosecutor's Office.The former minister has vowed to co-operate fully with the investigation on his return to Bratislava.Robert Fico famously promised "not to send one more round of ammunition" to Ukraine shortly before he won parliamentary elections in September 2023.During a visit to the economy ministry on Tuesday, he said: "I have a feeling that things are shifting in the world... In these absurd times of rearmament, when arms companies are rubbing their hands together just like pharmaceutical companies did during Covid, neutrality would suit Slovakia very well."The previous Slovak government had supplied not just munitions but also donated its sole S-300 surface-to-air missile battery as well as its entire fleet of 13 decommissioned MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.However, while the Fico government quickly halted the supply of Slovak army surplus stocks to Kyiv, commercial arms companies in Slovakia continue to play an important role in delivering ammunition and heavy weaponry to Ukraine.

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Vladimir Putin rages ‘all of Ukraine is ours' as he threatens to seize key city while Kyiv slams tyrant as ‘deranged'

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Putin said: "We aren't seeking Ukraine's surrender, we want them to recognise the realities on the ground," adding that Moscow has repeatedly warned Kyiv to make a deal. Asked about Moscow's goals in Ukraine, Putin threatened to take Sumy - a key Ukrainian city - as part of the creation of a "buffer zone". He repeated that Moscow was "advancing on all fronts" and that his troops had penetrated up to seven miles into the Sumy region. Putin said: "We have to create a security zone along the border. Putin has lost a MILLION men - Ukraine has killed so many it is running out of ammo "We have no objective to take Sumy, but in principle I do not rule it out... They pose a constant threat to us, constantly shelling the border areas." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga described Putin's comments as "deranged" and called for Kyiv's allies to slap "devastating sanctions" on Russia. 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Military analysts believe he is trying to press home his advantage and capture more Ukrainian land. They warn that Putin only has a "four-month window" to get a breakthrough in Ukraine this year. And this could be the beginning of Russia's summer offensive targeting the border city of Kharkiv - the "fortress" city of Ukraine which put up the maximum resistance at the start of the invasion. 10 10

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Zelenskiy says Ukraine developing interceptor drones to counter Russian attacks

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BBC News

4 hours ago

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32 nations but only one man matters - Nato's summit is all about Trump

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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.