NGOs, representatives of the academic community, expert public and media have sent an open letter to MPs, calling on them to stop misleading the public and to support the Slovak-US Defence Cooperation Agreement. The experts support the agreement and condemn the misleading discourse. The open letter was published on Monday by the NGOs Institute for Strategic Policies - Stratpol and MEMO 98. "The agreement is in full compliance with the strategic documents - the security and defence strategies of the Slovak Republic adopted in 2021 - and with the long-term consensus in the pro-European and pro-Atlantic foreign-policy orientation of our country," stated experts in the letter. According to them, the wording of the agreement does not harm Slovakia's interests. The signature of the DCA has already been approved by the Government and the Security Council. Once signed, the document still has to be greenlighted by Parliament and ratified by the president. The agreement would enable American military forces to use Slovakia's Malacky-Kuchyna and Sliac military airbases and other facilities and premises as per agreement for a period of ten years. The opposition criticises the DCA, claiming that it will allow US military bases to be set up, bring US troops closer to Russia’s borders and curtail the powers of Slovakia's state authorities.
Source: TASR
