Slovakia to expand its base of repairing Ukrainian military hardware, foreign minister says.

Slovakia will expand its military base in Michalovce, repairing Ukrainian military equipment instead of supplying new weapons to Ukraine, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blan?r said on Oct.

11. Blan?r stated that Slovakia will expand the facility as part of its aid to Ukraine, as they will no longer provide Ukraine with military equipment from its stockpiles, given that, according to him, there is nothing left to offer. Later, he added that the investment would be financed by Germany, and Slovakia would contribute the physical premises.

The repair facility, situated within the Slovak army's military quarter in Michalovce, began operations at the end of 2022. Blan?r's announcement came during his first official visit to Germany, where he met his counterpart and discussed Russia's war in Ukraine, migration, and mutual relations. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, a populist, said his country would halt military aid to Ukraine after he took office in September 2023.

The move was a stark reversal of Slovak foreign policy. On Oct.

7, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met with Fico in the Ukrainian border city of Uzhhorod. The meeting came shortly after Fico said that as long as he is prime minister, he will block Kyiv's entry into NATO.

"This is something that I have openly told Prime Minister Shmyhal, the Americans, and everyone else.

As long as I am head of the Slovak government, I will direct the lawmakers under my control as chairman of the (ruling Smer) party never to agree to Ukraine joining NATO," Fico told Slovak media.