Sliač wants to tax foreign soldiers stationed at the local air base. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
Soldiers stationed at the Sliač military base, central Slovakia, as part of NATO’s multinational battle group, do not pay accommodation tax, but the local mayor is hoping to change this.
In addition to the base, Sliač is a well-known spa town.
The mayor, Ľubica Balgová, claims that the town loses thousands of euros a year due to the soldiers not paying their share of the tax. She has pledged to send an invoice to the Slovak Interior Ministry.
“We have no financial gain from the soldiers,” she told the My Zvolen website, saying that everyone who stays in Sliač overnight is obliged to pay accommodation tax, except for disabled people and children.
A few weeks ago, Balgová claimed that NATO soldiers based in Sliač had reportedly stolen several road signs as a souvenir before leaving Slovakia.
First NATO soldiers arrived in Slovakia last spring.
NATO treaty
As for accommodation tax, foreign soldiers do not have to pay it. Though they are not excluded from paying the tax in a decree approved by the Sliač Town Council, an international agreement allows for this practice.
“This is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Status of Forces Agreement from 1951,” said the Interior Ministry, noting that Slovakia as a NATO member is also bound by it.
Such a treaty is placed above any decree issued by local or regional councils.
Last year, the town held an unsuccessful and groundless local referendum on a US base. Citizens had attempted to reject such a base on their territory although none of the Slovak and US officials ever mentioned such a plan.
The false narrative about the alleged construction of US bases in Slovakia began to appear after Slovakia and the USA signed the Defence Cooperation Agreement in early February of last year. It was the opposition and disinformation media that espoused the narrative.
