On Monday, the US Ambassador to Slovakia Adam Sterling posted a video on a social network shedding light on the offer of a 105 million US dollar investment from the United States for the modernization of military airports in Slovakia. The statement came a week after the Slovak Defence Ministry, run by a Slovak National Party nominee, announced that it would no longer participate in talks on receiving this financial help.
"This agreement will also allow United States to invest in Slovakia's military infrastructure. This will support the security in Slovakia and all our NATO allies," stated Adam Sterling. The decision by the Defence Ministry came as a surprise to the Foreign Ministry as it was made without any prior consultations, talks in the National Security Council or at the coalition level. According to the Foreign Ministry, talks with the United States have not been concluded and the final version of the deal was to be shaped by the Slovak side.
"Any final agreement will be bilateral, agreed to by both nations and approved through each nations' democratic processes," confirmed the US Ambassador to Slovakia, Adam Sterling.
"We are not seeking to construct a US military base in Slovakia," said the Ambassador, hinting at suggestions posted by the Parliamentary Chairman and the leader of Slovak National Party Andrej Danko. He announced on Wednesday that "nobody refused the money from the United States for the renovation of Slovak airports, since no money had been offered". "In any case, we haven't recently rejected any financial offer from the USA..." stated Defence Minister Peter Gajdos on Thursday, adding that the whole matter would not be resolved until the legal framework was negotiated and the contract was okayed. Gajdos stated that "there's the matter of finances from the USA, and then there's an agreement or a legal framework that doesn't speak about money from the USA." As he added, the comments are not those of his party but professional comments from the viewpoint of the Constitution and international law.
