The priorities of the Slovak Armed Forces this year will be to continue with modernisation, to build up the active reserves and to improve the training of soldiers, said Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš (Slovak National Party) at a press conference on Monday. The Slovak army expects two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to come this year and an additional five in the following year. A Spartan military transport aircraft will join the two already in the fleet. In November the Government gave the green light to the purchase of nearly 500 armoured vehicles for almost €1.2 billion. The Ministry of Defence expects the army to engage the Slovak defence industry in its modernisation plans and create its own vehicles.
The modernisation plan has triggered criticism from the opposition. Former Defence Minister Ľubomír Galko (Freedom and Solidarity party) has accused the current management of lacking transparency. "Instead of transparent international tenders, these political nominees favour non-transparent direct contracts that cover fictitious research and development, as is the case with the armoured 8x8 transporters," said Galko.
The budget for defence allocated for this year should reach 1.2 percent of GDP, well under the two percent commitment that Slovakia has as a member of the NATO alliance. Four years ago Slovak President Andrej Kiska promised to NATO allies that his country would increase its defence budget to 1.6 percent of GDP by 2020.
