Slovak arms exports boom despite PM's freeze on military aid to Ukraine

Slovakia’s private arms manufacturers are enjoying a record boom in exports, even as Prime Minister Robert Fico maintains his pledge to halt official military assistance to Ukraine.

Deputy Defence Minister Igor Melicher emphasised that the booming private business does not contradict the government’s political stance on Ukraine.

“The Slovak government pledged to its citizens in its manifesto that we will not send a single bullet from our state warehouses to Ukraine, and we are keeping this promise,” he told POLITICO, Caliber.Az cites. 

Slovakia’s official assistance is limited to non-lethal aid and critical electricity supplies “necessary for the functioning of Ukraine as a state,” hr added. 

In 2024, the country’s arms exports surged to €1.15 billion — equivalent to about 1 per cent of Slovakia’s economy, double the figure from 2023 and 10 times higher than before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Slovak companies are producing 155 mm ammunition, Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers, detection systems, and electronic warfare and communications technology, according to the Center for European Policy Analysis.

At the opening of an artillery ammunition plant last year, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák stressed: “This is not support for war, but support for trade.”

He reiterated that message in March when asked about the soaring export figures: “We said before and after the [2023 general] elections that we would not restrict defence companies because we need economic growth. It’s great because it creates jobs.”

The government makes no secret of its support for the free market.

 “We joined the European Union because of the values we share. We also respect the free market,” Melicher said. “Therefore, restricting defence industry companies would be quite hypocritical on our part.” 

He also noted that most of the military equipment produced in Slovakia is not sold to Ukraine, but to Western partners, “who will then decide what to do with this material.”

Fico has been one of the EU’s most outspoken critics of military support for Kyiv, while at the same time deepening ties with Russia. He has suspended official arms deliveries to Ukraine, denounced sanctions against Moscow, rejected NATO membership for Kyiv, and in May held talks with President Vladimir Putin.

The prime minister has also pushed back against the EU’s growing role in defence spending. 

“Should we take from pensioners now to buy tanks?” he asked in March.

Critics accuse Fico of playing a double game. 

“This is a communication strategy heavy on pacifist posturing and opportunism,” said Lucia Yar, a member of the European Parliament’s Security and Defence Committee from the opposition Progressive Slovakia party.

Despite railing against Brussels’ defence ambitions, Slovakia is eager to tap into EU funds. Yar pointed out that Fico’s government is eyeing the bloc’s new €150 billion Security Action for Europe loans-for-weapons program. 

“He may not be interested in the collective defence agenda, but he recognises that with the right messaging, particularly around dual-use infrastructure, he can access these defence-oriented EU funds to finance his domestic projects,” she said.

By Sabina Mammadli