Populist leader suggests ahead of NATO summit that Slovakia might be better off neutral
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico suggested Tuesday that his country might be better off neutral as he and other officials prepared for a NATO summit next week.
Fico made the remarks before heading into a meeting with political party leaders and President Peter Pellegrini to discuss proposals to increase defense spending to meet targets that the alliance is moving toward. Fico accused Western leaders of being 'warmongers' who enable weapons profiteering in their support of Ukraine.
'Neutrality would be very beneficial for Slovakia,' he said, adding that, 'Unfortunately, such a decision is not in my hands."
Later Tuesday, he released a statement saying the NATO defense spending requirements would amount to more than 7 billion euros ($8 billion) or almost a fifth of the country's budget, which he called 'absolutely absurd.'
He said the country had the simple choice of meeting that target, 'or we leave NATO.'
Fico would not have the authority to pull Slovakia out of the alliance, which could be prompted by a referendum and would require action by Parliament. A broad spectrum of politicians rejected the notion in reaction to his comments.
NATO meets for a summit in the Netherlands on June 24-25, where the allies are due to agree a new defense spending target in line with demands by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The aim is to increase the spending to 3.5% of GDP for core defense spending on tanks, warplanes, air defense, missiles and hiring extra troops. A further 1.5% would be spent on things like roads, bridges, ports and airfields.
Slovakia, a NATO member since 2004, currently spends 2%.
Pellegrini and most Slovakian politicians, from the government and the opposition, dismissed Fico's suggestion to become neutral. The president said that Slovakia will stay united with its allies on the spending issue at the summit.
Fico's views on Russia's war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. He opposes any military aid for Ukraine, lashed out at EU sanctions on Russia and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
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