J. Naď: Military ranks cannot be an expression of kingpinism, politicking or some political corruption

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď today signed orders to cancel the exceptional promotion of reservists JUDr. Andrej Danko and JUDr. Tomáš Borec to the ranks of Captain and Colonel, respectively. In justifying his decision, he stated: "Military ranks have their meaning and purpose. They denote the level of responsibility and authority in the Armed Forces. Most importantly, they cannot be an expression of kingpinism, politicking or some political corruption or anything close to what we witnessed in the previous term."

During the press conference, he mentioned specific cases when military ranks were awarded to politicians in the past, he said: "In February 2016, Minister Glváč handed out promotion orders to members of Fico's government to be promoted to the rank of Colonel. However, the government members were not promoted automatically. They were first supposed to register with the County Office. The only one to have done so was Mr Tomáš Borec. So, in this way he was promoted Colonel in February 2016. A similar situation occurred when then Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš issued promotion orders to Captain in Reserve for Cpl Andrej Danko in September 2016."

Acting Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď criticised the exceptional promotions of politicians to officer ranks earlier in the past. "Back then, it appeared to me, just as to so many others, that it was unacceptable. I felt it was an insult to soldiers who had to have even 20 years of service to qualify for Captain. Put simply, Mr Danko did not deserve the rank of Captain, nor did Mr Borec the rank of Colonel. Such behaviour is unacceptable and is, literally to the last letter, an insult to soldiers in the service of their country. Because of this, I've decided to sign respective orders to cancel the exceptional promotions," he said.

In these circumstances, Minister Naď could have followed other courses of action. "Given the current crisis situation, I could have called up, say, Cpt Danko as a reservist for "exceptional service". According to an entry in his records at the County Office, he is an expert for military food supplies in the position of "warehouse keeper/maintenance worker". Indeed, it can get so paradoxical when kingpinism drives politicians to hand out officer ranks without knowing what they mean," he underlined.

Against this backdrop, head of the MOD has announced a legislative proposal to prevent such malpractice in the future. "Most probably, we will amend the Conscription Act and abolish the institution of exceptional promotions for soldiers in reserve. And the option to promote reservists in the Active Reserve under clearly delineated conditions is being offered up for consideration." In this connection, the MOD's internal guidance on this matter will be updated as well. Exceptional promotions and appointments for retired soldiers will be possible where the conscription obligation has ceased. "For example, this pertains to the veterans who participated in the Slovak National Uprising, which, on moral grounds, is intended to be an act of recognition for their service," concluded Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď.