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Slovakia backs U.S. defence pact despite opposition during Ukraine crisis

09 February 2022 23:23 (UTC +04:00)

Lawmakers in Slovakia narrowly approved a defence treaty with the United States on Wednesday, making it the last NATO member on the alliance's eastern frontier to enact such a pact, despite rowdy opposition in parliament fuelled by the Ukraine crisis, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The treaty allows U.S. forces to use two airports in Slovakia, which shares a short mountainous border with Ukraine. Western countries accuse Russia of planning an invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow denies.

Other NATO countries in Eastern Europe have strongly backed a U.S. decision to beef up forces in the region during the standoff with Moscow. But the issue is more contentious in Slovakia, where an opinion poll showed in January that 44.1% of Slovaks believed NATO and the United States were responsible for the tension between Russia and Ukraine, while 34.7% blamed Russia.

The Slovak government said the defence cooperation treaty was in line with treaties signed by 23 other NATO peers, including all those on the alliance's eastern border.