Slovak army aiming to modernise and expand

Prime Minister Robert Fico met with Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš on Thursday to discuss the state of the Slovak Army. Fico urged the minister to "pursue European solutions when buying military equipment". According to Gajdoš, the Defence Ministry wants to address the modernisation of the army systematically, based on a long-term development plan. It wants to place an emphasis on the ground and air forces. In addition, the ministry proposed a plan to expand the armed forces in numbers. By the end of next year, the number of soldiers should increase by 130, reaching a total of 17,501. The prime minister also noted that the European Union would be launching a programme in the autumn to allow countries to cooperate more closely in the area of defence. Fico would like Slovakia to be part of this initiative.