Defence ministry rejects claims Ukrainian insurgents will be trained in Slovakia

The defence ministry on Tuesday rejected claims by Smer-SD head and MP Roberto Fico, who, citing The New York Times, said the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the United States could allow Ukrainian insurgents to be trained in Slovakia. "Such an occurrence, which allegedly originates from an 'unspecified source' in the US administration, has never been discussed with Slovakia either at the bilateral or multilateral level," the ministry said in a statement. "The information isn't based on reality." Fico said on Monday evening that help for Ukrainian insurgents could involve training in countries that are on NATO's eastern flank and are neighbours with Ukraine, namely Poland, Romania and Slovakia.