Defence Minister Naď: NATO Madrid Summit brings good news for Slovakia

A formal invitation to Finland and Sweden to join the Allied forces' structures and a fundamental strengthening of defences on the Alliance's eastern flank – these are the key outcomes and message of the NATO Madrid Summit, which, in view of the changes in the security landscape as a result of Russia's assault on Ukraine, was one of the most far-reaching summits over the past years, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď announced as the NATO Summit in Madrid drew to a close on Thursday (30 June 2022).

According to Jaroslav Naď, while some NATO member nations requested more reinforcements to be deployed to their territory, others found the current size and forms of Allied presence in their territory satisfactory. Slovakia was among the countries supporting NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) that would reflect the country-specific particularities and needs along the Alliance's eastern flank. It was this compromise proposal that Allied leaders endorsed at the summit.

On the fundamental shift in NATO's deterrence and defence, Jaroslav Naď said: “The countries for which the current state of enhanced Forward Presence is satisfactory will be allowed, for example, to strengthen their readiness by developing infrastructure and hosting an increased level of [NATOʼs] high readiness forces that will deploy to defend their territory if necessary. This is good news for Slovakia.” Thanks to this, there is space for a further strengthening of Slovakia's defences if required, he argued.

On the Russian Federation, which, after its assault on Ukraine, has become “the most significant and direct threat” to the Alliance and the Euro-Atlantic area, Minister Naď noted that defence cooperation between the Slovak and Russian Ministries of Defence has reached deadlock. Inevitably, this will lead Slovakia to discontinue the use of Soviet-era capabilities.

During the Summit, Slovakia reaffirmed its commitment to spending a minimum of 2% of GDP dedicated to defence, given that burden sharing is critical to shoring up Allied solidarity and capabilities, collective defence guarantees, and the trans-Atlantic bond.

​​​On the margins of NATO's 2022 Summit, Mr Naď held a series of bilateral defence talks with a focus on coordinating a new comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine and delivering capability enhancements for the Slovak Armed Forces.