Ministry of Defence ends negotiations on U.S. funds, because their acceptance could threaten Slovakia's sovereignty
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- Date: 11.03.2019
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The SVK Ministry of Defence has ended all the negotiations on the "Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States of America". Given the fact the U.S. offer has failed to reflect the operational requirements of the Slovak Armed Forces in any way whatsoever, the SVK MOD will no longer participate in the negotiations on the subject matter.
The MOD views any creation of legal conditions under which foreign troops may be stationed and operating in the territory of Slovakia for an indefinite period of time, with an entitlement to terminate the Agreement no sooner than 10 years since the entry into force of the Agreement on 12 months' notice of termination, as a threat to or constraint on the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic. In NATO terminology, such presence of foreign troops would mean setting up a foreign military base in Slovakia, which is something the MOD leadership fundamentally disagrees with.
If the Defense Cooperation Agreement were signed, this would set a precedent, one allowing for the stationing of foreign troops in the Slovak Republic, without the number of U.S. troops and the type and purpose of military equipment and materiel being specified.
Moreover, the SVK MOD wishes to underline that in no way can it agree with favouring, unjustifiably, members of the U.S. Armed Forces and civilian components, their family members, and U.S. contractors over other members of NATO armed forces. No other NATO armed forces enjoy such advantages, nor would they even at a time of Slovakia's assistance response under NATO's collective defence, not to mention the above-average cooperation on airspace protection being advanced.
Based on the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) programme, the U.S. offer was exclusively aimed at constructing facilities which would serve, as a priority, for the purposes of facilitating the deployment of U.S. troops, military equipment and materiel, or for any other purposes. In no way did the Agreement address the operational requirements of the Slovak Armed Forces, nor NATO requirements for Host Nation Support (HNS). Needless to say, we have declined this offer of bilateral cooperation on the grounds that the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic could be put under threat. Nevertheless, the SVK MOD continues and will continue to perform all of its commitments as a NATO member. In a letter addressed to the SVK Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, we present factual information on our decision.
The MOD views any creation of legal conditions under which foreign troops may be stationed and operating in the territory of Slovakia for an indefinite period of time, with an entitlement to terminate the Agreement no sooner than 10 years since the entry into force of the Agreement on 12 months' notice of termination, as a threat to or constraint on the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic. In NATO terminology, such presence of foreign troops would mean setting up a foreign military base in Slovakia, which is something the MOD leadership fundamentally disagrees with.
If the Defense Cooperation Agreement were signed, this would set a precedent, one allowing for the stationing of foreign troops in the Slovak Republic, without the number of U.S. troops and the type and purpose of military equipment and materiel being specified.
Moreover, the SVK MOD wishes to underline that in no way can it agree with favouring, unjustifiably, members of the U.S. Armed Forces and civilian components, their family members, and U.S. contractors over other members of NATO armed forces. No other NATO armed forces enjoy such advantages, nor would they even at a time of Slovakia's assistance response under NATO's collective defence, not to mention the above-average cooperation on airspace protection being advanced.
Based on the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) programme, the U.S. offer was exclusively aimed at constructing facilities which would serve, as a priority, for the purposes of facilitating the deployment of U.S. troops, military equipment and materiel, or for any other purposes. In no way did the Agreement address the operational requirements of the Slovak Armed Forces, nor NATO requirements for Host Nation Support (HNS). Needless to say, we have declined this offer of bilateral cooperation on the grounds that the sovereignty of the Slovak Republic could be put under threat. Nevertheless, the SVK MOD continues and will continue to perform all of its commitments as a NATO member. In a letter addressed to the SVK Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, we present factual information on our decision.
