Exericse at Lešť. (source: Sme )
One sentence in a New York Times story from last week stirred the political scene in Slovakia and prompted the opposition to accuse the government of planning the training of Ukrainian insurgents in the country.
The New York Times wrote in its January 14 story on the potential US backing of Ukrainian insurgents in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, citing administration officials, that the US government's plans to help Ukrainian insurgents "could include providing training in nearby countries that are part of NATO’s eastern flank: Poland, Romania and Slovakia, which could enable insurgents to slip in and out of Ukraine."The New York Times wrote in its January 14 story on the potential US backing of Ukrainian insurgents in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, citing administration officials, that the US government's plans to help Ukrainian insurgents "could include providing training in nearby countries that are part of NATO’s eastern flank: Poland, Romania and Slovakia, which could enable insurgents to slip in and out of Ukraine."
The opposition and groups opposing the ongoing process of signing and ratifying the Defence Cooperation Agreement between Slovakia and the US were quick to use the claim against the government.
"No such possibility allegedly mentioned by a closely unspecified source from the American administration has been discussed with Slovakia, neither on a bilateral or multilateral level," said Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO) in his reaction, as quoted by the Denník N daily.
Additional argument for Fico
Opposition Smer leader Robert Fico was part of the ruling coalition when Slovakia first started talks with the US about the Defence Cooperation Agreement in 2019.
In recent weeks, Fico has been at the forefront of the opposition against the DCA, widely supported by the disinformation scene. He has now pointed to the article in the New York Times as another argument against the deal.
Fico insists that the DCA grants the US armed forces free movement on Slovak territory, without being checked or stopped.
"Imagine how easy it will be to train a Ukrainian insurgent here, and then transport them with no problems whatsoever to the Ukrainian territory to fight in a potential conflict there," Fico claimed.
No such talks, says minister
Defence Minister Naď refused what he called the ponderings of the New York Times that Slovakia should be a place where Ukrainian insurgents will be trained or armed. He insisted there is no factual basis for such claims and that Slovakia has not been involved in any such talks.
"Nowhere, at no bilateral or multilateral forum, has any such thing been discussed, let alone agreed on," Naď stressed.
