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SDL Wants to Abolish Defence Ministry
Saturday 24 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, April 24 (TASR) - The bureaucratic apparatus of the Defence Ministry is not necessary to maintain an operational army and the whole ministry could be shut down, chairman of an extraparliamentary Party of the Democratic Left (SDL) Marek Blaha told TASR.
"In situations when people expect the assistance of the army, such as during, say, natural catastrophes like floods or earthquakes, these tasks can be co-ordinated and temporarily run under auspices of the Interior Ministry," said Blaha, adding that Slovakia's defence policies and the country's participation in military missions abroad could be carried out directly by the Slovak Armed Forces. "We see no problem in that," said Blaha. "I doesn't mean that we need to cut down spending on modernization of the army," he emphasised, adding that his party supports the professionalisation of the Slovak army, so it could meet all of its obligations stemming from NATO membership.
"The Defence Ministry won't comment on election programmes of political parties," the ministry spokesman Vladimir Gemela said in response.
SDL is one of 18 parties officially running in the June 12 general election in Slovakia.
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