Press Department

Kiska has held a meeting with The Secretary General of NATO

„We have agreed that ceasefire exists, but it is fragile. Russia has a responsibility for keeping the ceasefire in place. Without wishing to exaggerate the situation, the security of Europe has worsened. We face challenges, which we could not have imagined a few years ago,” said Kiska.

President of Slovak Republic has reminded the commitments from the NATO summit in Wales: „We have pledged that our defence budget will rise. Today, I can confirm that the process of modernization of the Slovak Armed Forces has begun. Our ambition is to progressively phase out Russian military equipment.”

Kiska has also opened the topical issue of information war. In the discussion with the Secretary General, he asked how the Alliance deals with this issue, and whether it has a common strategy.

„It has become clear that possessing advanced weapons is not enough; we have to be able to defend ourselves against an organized spread of disinformation. This is not to deny the right to different opinions, which is a natural part of all democratic and free societies. I am talking about a deliberate manipulation of facts, about outright lies. In the context of the Ukraine crisis we have had to face this problem more than ever before,” emphasized Kiska.