But the booming arms business isn’t undermining Fico’s political pledge on aid to Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Igor Melicher told POLITICO.
“The Slovak government pledged to its citizens in its manifesto that we will not send a single bullet from our state warehouses to Ukraine, and we are keeping this promise,” Melicher said in a statement to POLITICO. Slovakia’s official help is made up of non-lethal aid and critical electricity supplies “necessary for the functioning of Ukraine as a state.”
However, the government makes no secret of the fact that it has no problem with private companies selling arms.
“We joined the European Union because of the values we share. We also respect the free market,” Melicher said. “Therefore, restricting defense industry companies would be quite hypocritical on our part.”
Slovak companies are producing 155 mm ammunition, Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers, detection systems and electronic warfare and communications technology, according to the Center for European Policy Analysis.
Last year, at the opening of an artillery ammunition plant, Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák said: “This is not support for war, but support for trade.”