Slovakia will allow the commercial sale of weapons to Ukraine

1 year ago 44

The commercial sale of ammunition does not go against previous governmental declarations of stopping military aid to Ukraine, said Prime Minister Robert Fico after he also greenlit European Council conclusions that included military aid for Ukraine.

Slovakia’s Defence Ministry worried that if Fico took office, his promise of not sending “a single bullet” to Ukraine would extend to private contracts, but the prime minister assured that would not be the case.

“When some company wants to make weapons and send them somewhere, nobody is going to obstruct that,” Fico said, adding that the promise only covers “Slovak army storage” and “state material”. His priorities in defence will be replenishing Slovak inventory and strengthening the aid defence.

Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár also added that Slovakia wants to help demine Ukraine, which has “roots in peace”.

This should mean that the plans of Slovak company Konštrukta-Defense to co-develop new Howitzers with Ukraine, a project which would significantly raise their production, are safe to continue. Slovak-based ZVS Holding also produces ammunition for Ukraine and has plans to “double or triple” its production, which impressed European Commissioner Thierry Breton during his March visit.

In an interview with Euractiv Slovakia, former Deputy Defense Minister Marian Majer said that “the global defence industry is too interconnected for politicians to be able to take companies out of it”.

Since taking office, Fico’s government has been adding caveats to their promise to halt military aid. Fico’s signature under European Council conclusions, which reaffirmed the EU’s plans to supply weapons to Ukraine, did not go well with his nationalist coalition partner Andrej Danko.

Fico also tasked Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák with inventorying Slovak military storage. Kaliňák said he plans to re-evaluate contracts made in the resort in past months, saying that many were signed under “scandalous and disadvantageous” conditions.

Before the elections, Kaliňák criticised orders to purchase four-wheeled vehicles financed by a US grant and a purchase of US combat helicopters. He also spoke of reopening the Defense Cooperation Agreement with the US.

(Barbara Zmušková | Euractiv.sk)