Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič received NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Bratislava on Friday. As the presidential spokesman Mark Trubač told the SITA news agency, Rasmussen is visiting Slovakia to attend the security forum GLOBSEC 2014. President Gašparovič thanked Rasmussen for the work he has done for the alliance.
“For Slovakia, NATO is extremely important because accession ten years ago was for us a strategic decision for the future of the country”, the president said. In his words, Slovaks perceive NATO is not only as a political organisation but also as a guarantee of security and protection of its members against external threats. Secretary General Rasmussen also addressed the situation in Ukraine and steps that NATO has taken in the recent past to strengthen its defences. He also appealed to honour the commitment of the alliance’s members to spend two percent of GDP on defence. At present Slovakia spends on its defence about one percent of GDP annually. Rasmussen stressed the need to increase investments in the modernisation of the armed forces.
