Steel, Iran and NATO discussed in Bratislava Slovak – US “comprehensive and critical” talk

Trans-Atlantic ties are experiencing their greatest stress test since the 1990s, the Foreign Ministry state secretary Ivan Korčok said after his "comprehensive and critical" talk with US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell on Thursday. According to Korčok, it is crucial to prevent the increasingly divergent interests of USA and Europe from undermining their common partnership. As Mitchell said, some of the American measures that Europe dislikes are necessary, for instance, the introduction of tariffs on imports of European steel and aluminium into the USA, the withdrawal of the USA from a nuclear deal with Iran or complaints voiced by President Donald Trump that some NATO members do not contribute adequately to joint defence. "If we didn't address these issues, we would be undermining the long-term health of the Western alliance," claimed Mitchell. As for the deal with Iran, Korčok stressed that the trans-Atlantic community must break the stalemate when both parties reiterate their different stances and instead focus on common ground. "The common ground lies in our perception of Iran's activities in the region of the Middle East," said Korčok. Regarding defence spending, he assured Mitchell that Slovakia had charted a definitive course as to how to meet its NATO commitments. "We've got the commitment affirmed by the Parliament for an incremental increase of defence expenditures. In 2020, it'll stand at 1.6 percent of GDP," stressed Korčok, adding that Slovakia was doing this not only because of the commitment but also for the sake of its own security.