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The Slovak parliament and the president approved an agreement on military co-operation with the United States.
The defense co-operation agreement was approved by 79 votes to 60 in the 150-seat parliament, in a split vote between members of the four ruling coalition and opposition parties.
Under the agreement, the US military can use two Slovak air bases, Malacki and Sliak, for 10 years, while Slovakia, a NATO member as well as the United States, will receive $ 100m from the United States to modernize the bases. . The agreement was signed on February 3 in Washington by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy. It was ratified today by President Zuzana Caputova.
Parliament voted at a time when there are fears that Russia could invade Ukraine. Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, but says it has no plans to attack the country. Slovakia borders Ukraine.
The deal was backed by the government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger, who said it would significantly strengthen Slovak security. The United States has such agreements with 23 other NATO members, including Poland and Hungary, two other countries bordering Ukraine on the east side of the Alliance.
Any specific deployment of US forces requires the approval of the Slovak government and parliament.
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