National defense shouldn't be subject of political battles: Slovak DM

Slovak Defense Minister Peter Gajdos on Tuesday stated that Slovak national defense shouldn't be a subject of political battles.

Gajdos made the statement when asked for more money to be spent on the modernization and training of the Slovak military. At the same time he rejected any attempts to demonize NATO.

"We're NATO. A gradual increase in defense spending isn't self-serving - it's our commitment. It's necessary for modernization and training, and increasing the quality of our armed forces," stressed Gajdos.

Gajdos said that he wants to see real progress in the country's ability to defend itself, also in view of the recent terror attacks in Paris and Brussels and the ongoing migration crisis.

"At these difficult times, national defense shouldn't be the subject of political rivalry. We should strive for broad agreement across the political scene and society on this," said Gajdos.

Former defense minister Lubomir Galko from liberal party SaS views the section on external defense as the best prepared part of the document.

"The text doesn't contain a single harmful thing, which is a positive feature," added Galko, praising the Manifesto's determination to foster Slovakia's pro-EU and pro-NATO orientation. Endit