Habersack, Sabine - Puşcaş, Vasile - Ciubotă, Viorel (szerk.): Democraţia in Europa centrală şi de Sud-Est - Aspiraţie şi realitate (Secolele XIX-XX) (Satu Mare, 2001)
Ivo Samson: Security Policy of the Slovak Republic: Meeting NATO Criteria before Madrid and after Washington
collapse of the WTO, as well the failure of Soviet-typed arms in the Gulf war, the traditional market for Slovak weapons like the Soviet-designed T- 72 was almost lost. The Slovak objective to raise production of arms to at least 25 per cent of output prior to 1989 capacity within a few years29 was very ambitious and could not be achieved. The former quantity should be replaced by quality that corresponds to western arms. Slovakia also modernized30 its classic T-72 tank in the form of the T-72 M2, which is also on the market. According to experts there were an estimated 8 000 T- 72 tanks in use around the world in the mid-nineties. So the modernization of the Slovak arms industry contributes to the compatibility of the Slovak Army with NATO armed forces and has been a frequent theme for discussions with the western army officials during 1995.31 The deficiencies concerning the Slovak armed forces have been regarded as minimal in comparison with the political deficits in the course of the Slovak NATO integration process. The engagement of the Army of the Slovak Republic in the peace keeping operations has been above average and the Slovak military has often given these activities as an example of a positive security policy development of the country.32 The place of Slovakia in the typology of post-communist states Like the other countries of Central Europe, of course, the Slovak government also thought that Slovakia was entitled to be in the first round of the widely announced enlargement, be it for proclaimed cultural, historical, geographic, geopolitical and geostrategic, or for economic and political reasons. Security Policy of the Slovak Republic 29 The former Defense Minister Pavol Kanis to “Reuter”, Bratislava, 24 November 1994. 30 In the arms industrial complex ZS Martin in Central Slovakia. 31 The former (1994 - 1998) Defense Minister Ján Sitek with the British Defense Minister M. Rifkind on 15 February 1995, see in: Národná obroda. 16 February 1995 and with the US Defense Minister W. Perry on 18 September 1995, see in: Sme, 19 September 1995. 32 MarguS, J.: Aktivitv Armádv SR v operáciách na podporu mieru OSN a ; alsich medzinárodnvch oreanizácií ("The Activities of the Army of the Slovak Republic in Peace Keeping Operations of the UN and Other International Organizations"), in: Samson, I. (edj: Riziká a ohrozenia v strednei Europe v 21. storoci. Vplvv na úlohu ozbroienvch síi. ("Risks and Threats in Central Europe in the 21st Century. Impact on the Role of Defense Forces"), Bratislava 1999, p. 89. 199
