Good morning, Dear Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to welcome you in Bratislava on behalf of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, and on my personal behalf. There is no doubt that the GLOBSEC conference is a remarkable event. It has matured like a fine wine. I am very pleased that the Slovak Ministry of Defence is among the institutions providing support to this excellent and ambitious event since its beginning.

The headline of this panel is very topical: Where to find the balance between capabilities and cuts in defence budgets? In Europe, we all are facing shrinking defence budgets, and are pushed to search for new – and in some way unconventional – methods of dealing with money. One way of raising more money for defence is to ask you to make a donation for the Ministry of Defence. Please, put your donation in the box before leaving the room after this panel!

All jokes aside, present realities require us to prioritise our goals and tasks. This brings real savings and wise exploiting of resources of every kind. But that’s not enough.

Dear Friends,
I definitely agree with the NATO Secretary General that we must prevent the financial crisis from becoming a security crisis.

When I became Slovakia’s Minister of Defence, I found the Ministry in quite a bad situation - short of money and capabilities. I have set myself the goal of putting the defence department back on its feet again. That is one of the reasons why we have launched the Strategic Defence Review.

The Strategic Defence Review should serve as the primary driver for evaluation of the current state of play in defence. It will also project the armed forces we are able to maintain. Our modernization and procurement of new equipment is lagging and has almost stopped. We all know about the gap between the United States and its European allies.

But more importantly, the gap between a few strong European nations and the rest of Europe is widening, and may result in unforeseen and unwanted consequences. We are risking the loss of our ability to act in solidarity and to cooperate together. This must not happen.

In the past, the defence department used to be a cash machine for other ministries. The previous government repeatedly withdrew money without considering the impact on defence. However, patching the economic deficit by the defence budget is a short-sighted solution.

Indeed, every nation needs a strong economy. I do believe that investing in defence pays off. Investing into defence means keeping state sovereignty, having means to protect and promote our national interests at home and abroad, protecting our airspace, and being helpful, when the population is in danger.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our people, our taxpayers, and all our politicians have to realize, that not investing into defence could have deep consequences:

1. They need to know that without deployable armed forces we will face the threats, only after they reach our territory and not where they originate.

2. They need to understand that without real investment there might be no fighter planes flying in the sky in the future to secure our airspace.

3. Politicians would have to live with their decision that without sufficient funds for defence we may end up with no bridge to lay, when floods take out one, or with no helicopters ready to stop drastic fire in a national park, when it occurs.

Armed forces are here for our population to help and defend, but we all must THINK DEFENCE in these difficult budgetary times.

Therefore, I would like to reiterate - investment in defence pays off. It pays off for several reasons, but most importantly, for defending and protecting the population, providing our sovereign state with muscles, and ensuring international recognition as a reliable ally and partner!
Strong economy is, indeed, an essential part of security. But defence provides the society with the most basic tools for the protection of the society and economy from external threats. Security threats sometimes knock at our door, and, it is never a pleasant visit. Every reasonable man has insurance for “what-if” situations. For us, this insurance is called – The Slovak Armed Forces.

Let me be very clear: Striking a balance between defence capabilities and defence cuts is far from being an easy task. Mr. Božinovič, my colleague on this panel, but also many more colleagues in the audience, will surely agree with me, because we are all in the same boat. A balance between defence capabilities and defence cuts cannot be made by waving a magic wand.

Having more security for less money is very close to wishful thinking. We can pool and share capabilities with our allies and friends, but, there is a catch. We can do it with the existing capabilities, but to build new ones, we need additional resources. And even then, we will not only share the price but also the use of a capability. That means it may not be available to us when we might need it, because other partners may use it at that time.

Pooling or sharing leads to a partial loss of national sovereignty. For some capabilities this is unacceptable. Therefore, nationally, we need to invest more into defence, because it pays off. It is very easy to lose a capability. But it is difficult, costly, if not impossible, to restore it again.

I appeal to you, members of the security community and public! We need your help! Your voice is important in these dire times for defence.

Since I came to the office I have been striving for openness and transparency of our Ministry of Defence. It is not in our interest to hide the state of play in our armed forces. We know what the problems are and we try to fix them.

The sad reality was highlighted also during the visit of the NATO evaluation team last month. We can pool, we can share, we can prioritise, we can restructure, but without additional resources our armed forces will suffer beyond repair!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I encourage you to focus in your discussion, as much as possible, on practical issues. I believe that the outcomes of your discussions will also feed in the defence decision-making process not only in Slovakia but also in other countries.

Take an honest and balanced look how our national and international institutions have adapted to the present resource realities. Let’s not forget that history has proven many times that investing in defence pays off!

Let me conclude by wishing you all a very fruitful deliberation, and to our foreign guests, a pleasant stay in Slovakia.

Thank you.