Slovakia to meet NATO defence budget target by 2022
Slovakia will increase its military budget to the NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product by 2022, 2 years earlier than planned, President Zuzana Caputova told NATO officials in Brussels on 25th June.
‘In relation to the 2% of GDP, we are pleased to achieve this target even earlier, in 2022 - that is 2 years earlier’ than previously stated, Caputova said, quoted by Slovak media in Brussels following talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Slovakia, a NATO and eurozone member state of 5.4 million people, currently spends 1.73% of its GDP on defence, according to the 2019 state budget.
Slovakia had earlier committed to reach NATO's recommended 2% of GDP military spending target in 2024.
NATO member states agreed to the spending target in 2014.
Bratislava will spend nearly €900 million ($1.02 billion) on defence in 2019, the finance ministry said.
Defence Ministry state secretary Robert Ondrejcsak told AFP on 25th June that most of this budget will be spent on a comprehensive modernisation of the country's army.
‘We will soon get rid of technical dependence on Russia,’ he said.
Ondrejcsak was referring to Slovakia's current dependence on Russian military hardware, a legacy of its past in the Communist bloc before 1989.
More from Defence Notes
-
![Taiwan approved for purchase of $11 billion in weapons from US]()
Taiwan approved for purchase of $11 billion in weapons from US
The US State Department’s approval of a multi-billion-dollar sale of weapons to Taiwan includes tactical mission networks equipment, uncrewed aerial systems, artillery rocket systems and self-propelled howitzers as well as anti-tank guided missiles.
-
![US National Security Strategy prioritises advanced military capabilities and national industry]()
US National Security Strategy prioritises advanced military capabilities and national industry
The 2025 NSS has emphasised investment in the US nuclear and air defence inventory and national industry, but it leaves multiple unanswered questions on how the White House will implement this approach.
-
![Canada set to look away from its neighbour and across the Atlantic for partners]()
Canada set to look away from its neighbour and across the Atlantic for partners
While non-EU UK struggles to join the Security Action for Europe initiative, which provides loans for defence programmes, Canada has become the first country outside Europe to get access – and did so for a nominal fee.
-
![NATO experiments with solutions to integrate networks, AI and uncrewed systems]()
NATO experiments with solutions to integrate networks, AI and uncrewed systems
During the latest edition of the NATO DiBaX, the alliance tested multiple capabilities to inform requirements for future efforts.
