NATO offers Slovakia a thousand Allied soldiers, in the coalition they fear the disapproval of people and protests – Denník N

NATO allies are considering setting up troops with a thousand members in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. The British informed about it Sky News. According to her sources, such a step is so far only one of several ways to respond to the Russian threat.

On Thursday, after a meeting of the Defense and Security Parliamentary Committee, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Korčok (for SaS) confirmed that NATO was considering deploying troops in Slovakia.

“It is not NATO’s request, it is something that the Alliance is responding to. Such structures are in the Baltics, they are in Poland and they are there in response to what happened in 2014, when we thought there would be no such escalation. ” he explained Korcok.

According to Korčok, it is natural that, given the situation outside NATO, the Alliance is also considering militarily – but nothing has been agreed yet and it is just a matter of consideration. NATO is deciding on its next steps at a time when Russia is amassing large troops near Ukraine’s borders, and a Russian military strike on Ukraine is not ruled out.

The head of diplomacy stressed that this offer has nothing to do with the negotiations on a defense agreement with the United States.

Korčok supports the presence of NATO troops in our country

Korčok told Denník N on Thursday that he himself supports such a move by NATO. “I do not know why Slovakia should step out of the effort, which is the only goal – to strengthen the defense in this tense situation,” he said, adding that this was his position, not the government’s position, and Slovakia had not yet made a decision on the issue.

“In the current situation, given that these are steps of an organization that guarantees our security and defense, I consider this to be a logical step in strengthening the defense of the entire Alliance, but also of the countries on the Eastern Wing,” the minister said. Ivan Korčok says that he does not find any strong argument that should lead to Slovakia not being part of NATO measures to strengthen the defense of the Slovak Republic. “This is a time when a clear position needs to be taken, and I want to do so as Foreign Minister.”

Ivan Korčok also confirmed that the Alliance has recently launched a process aimed at strengthening its military presence on the Alliance’s eastern wing. According to him, this is a continuation of what she did in response to the annexation of Crimea, ie the deployment of NATO troops in the Baltics and Poland. “At the moment, the idea is to close the space in this way in the east by having NATO present in Romania, which has been striving for this for a long time, in Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. So I confirm that this consideration is on the side of the Alliance. “

Offer of a thousand-member battle group

According to information from Denník N, the Allies offered an offer in Slovakia