Prime Minister Robert Fico hinted that Slovakia would not increase defence spending to 5% of GDP as demanded by Nato, as his country has better things to spend budget money on, saying Slovakia "can meet Nato obligations" without the spending hike. 

Nato members are due to gather in the Hague on June 25 where the main topic on the agenda will be increasing defence spending from 2% of GDP mandated at the last meeting in 2014 to 5% of GDP by 2035 in the face of a rising threat from Russia. But Fico has rejected a rapid jump to 5% GDP as “impossible” in light of the present state of public finances in Slovakia.  

However, several Nato members have objected, saying they cannot afford it. At a meeting last week, Nato adjusted the language of the proposed joint declaration to give members more flexibility over when and how to introduce the increase that will allow Spain in particular to spend less. Now Slovakia wants a similar carve-out.

The increase in spending is driven by a fear that Russia may attack Nato in the next few years.

“Russia has brought war back to Europe and has teamed up with China, North Korea, and Iran to reshape the global order. Together, they are expanding their militaries and their capabilities,” Nato General Secretary Mark Rutte said in an opinion piece for Foreign Policy this week.

However, Fico has rejected the idea that Russia is a threat and together with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has lobbied the EU to end the support for Ukraine and drop sanctions on Russia, which remains a major source of energy for the Slovak Republic, and the country increased imports of Russian gas after Fico's return to power in 2023. 

Fico has accused Brussels of warmongering, but has reluctantly supported sanctions and Ukraine’s EU accession bid, in return for concessions on implementing sanctions on Russia.

“All international political, security, and legal mechanisms intended for decision-making and mandates on the use of military force in resolving conflicts have failed,” Fico said in a statement posted on social media. “Major powers are making these decisions individually, which is leading to an unprecedented deterioration of the security situation with a real risk of the emergence of a new global military conflict.”

Fico argued that the interests of the Slovak people would be served by spending on social needs, not defence.

“Today, extensive armament and the possible global military conflict are being discussed significantly more than peace or the improvement of people’s living standards,” Fico said. “In a period of restoring public finances and catching up with the average living standard in the EU, the Slovak Republic has other priorities in the coming years than armament.”

He tempered his refusal to increase spending by saying that Slovakia is a sovereign nation and so must make its own decision on how to spend its budget and suggested that Bratislava will not be forced into increasing its defence budget by Nato, a military alliance, not a political body.

“The Slovak Republic is a Nato member state and must decide whether it respects the obligations arising from our membership or whether it will adopt a different solution in the future,” Fico said. “Moreover, the Slovak Republic is capable of meeting Nato’s requirements even without a substantial increase in defence spending to 5% of GDP.”

Fico specifically cited Spain’s exemption so that Slovakia would, “reserve the sovereign right to decide at what pace and in what structure it is prepared to increase the budget of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic in order to achieve Nato’s plan by 2035.”

He said that Slovakia will not increase defence spending in 2026 from the 2024 level of 2.1%, or $2.85bn. The Defence Ministry said earlier this year that defence spending in 2025 may be increased by a “slight” amount but suggested that it would not be more than a “tenth of a percent” and then only for dual-use projects like infrastructure or military hospitals.