Slovakia will support the candidacy of outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the position of NATO secretary general in exchange for help with its air defence, according to Euractiv.
President Peter Pellegrini announced his support for Rutte’s candidacy on Tuesday, 18 June, following the conclusion of an extraordinary European Council meeting.
After consultations with both candidates and discussions with the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and the Slovak government, Slovakia can imagine supporting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the head of the Alliance.
The country also reminded Rutte to consider the geographical principle when filling NATO positions at lower levels of management if he became secretary general. Pellegrini noted that the support was linked to a request for Rutte to ensure the defence of Slovak airspace.
Today, Slovakia does not possess any air defence system, and that is why we discussed with Prime Minister Rutte that in case he is elected as the Alliance’s chief, he should strive to protect and defend the Slovak airspace – at least until Slovakia can protect it with its own capacities.
Since the previous Slovak government gave Ukraine old S-300 air defence systems, and after the Netherlands and Italy withdrew their temporarily provided systems from Slovakia, its airspace remained partially unprotected.
