The Government has confirmed its commitment to increase defence spending to 1.6 percent of GDP in 2020. Following the approval of the Security Council, the Cabinet on Wednesday gave the green light to the strategy of the national implementation plan of commitments and criteria resulting from Slovakia's engagement in Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) on security and defence. The approved strategy also includes commitments to increase the defence budget regularly. Defence spending in 2018 and 2019 should reach 1.22 percent of GDP. It should stand at 1.6 percent of GDP in 2020, with expenditures on the modernisation and development of the Slovak Armed Forces exceeding 20 percent.
Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: TASR
