World News | Slovakia Lawmakers Approve Defence Military Treaty with US

Bratislava (Slovakia), Feb 9 (AP) Slovakia's parliament on Wednesday approved a defence military treaty with the United States.

The Defence Cooperation Agreement passed 79-60 in the 150-seat legislature in a vote split between lawmakers from the four-party ruling coalition and the opposition.

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The treaty allows the US military to use two Slovak air force bases — Malacky-Kuchyna and Sliac — for 10 years while Slovakia — a NATO member — will receive $100 million from the US to modernise them.

The deal was signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Slovakia's defence minister, Jaroslav Nad, on Feb 3 in Washington. It still needs to be ratified by President Zuzana Caputova, who supports it.

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The vote took place amid fears that Russia will invade Ukraine. Moscow has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, but insists it has no plans to attack. Slovakia borders Ukraine.

The treaty has been supported by the government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger, who said it will “significantly enhance our security”. But the agreement is fiercely opposed by the opposition, which claims it would compromise the country's sovereignty, make possible a permanent presence of US troops on Slovak territory and even enable a possible deployment of nuclear weapons in Slovakia.

The Slovak and US governments have rejected those charges.

“Nothing in today's agreement creates permanent US bases or troop presence in Slovakia, and the agreement fully respects Slovakia's sovereignty and laws,” Blinken said during Thursday's signing ceremony at the US State Department.

Thousands rallied against the agreement on Tuesday in front of the parliament building when lawmakers were debating it.

The protest united the Slovak opposition, including the far-right People's Party Our Slovakia and the leftist Smer-Social Democracy of former populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The US has such an agreement with 23 other NATO members, including, Poland and Hungary, two other countries that neighbour Ukraine on the eastern flank of the alliance.

Any particular deployment of US forces still needs approval by the Slovak government and parliament. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)