Slovakia to purchase armoured vehicles from Finland

Finnish and Slovak Defence Ministries have signed a memorandum about the purchase of 8x8 armoured vehicles for the Slovak military, a Slovak defense official said Friday.

One third of the 8x8 vehicle should be made by the Finnish and two thirds in Slovakia, Slovak Defence Ministry's Service Office general secretary Jan Holko added.

"The agreement will result in a prototype, which -- if it passes tests -- will be offered to the Defence Ministry. Slovakia will become the 100-percent owner of the vehicle, and it will be able to sell it on the Finnish market and third markets," stressed Holko.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico advocated on Friday for a "European solution" in the purchase of armoured vehicles for the Slovak military, i.e. cooperation with other EU-member countries and as large as possible involvement of the Slovak defence industry.

"Slovakia will bring its defence capabilities in accord with other member countries. We'll thus be able to react more effectively in important foreign missions organised by the EU and also react more efficiently to security risks that may emerge," Fico said.

At the same time the Slovak military has asked for six types of 4x4 vehicles, while no partner has been selected so far.

The Defence Ministry wants to purchase a total of 81 vehicles on the 8x8 chassis and 404 multipurpose 4x4 vehicles, with the total value of the package reaching 1.2 billion euro