Gaps in arms inspections in Slovakia
Goods category: War materiel
During a Swiss inspection in November 2021, only around 60 per cent of the submachine guns supplied could be checked. They had been delivered to the Slovak Ministry of the Interior and intelligence service between 2015 and 2017. The precise number of unchecked weapons was not published.
Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision
Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. For Slovakia, as a current Annex 2 state, Article 22a paragraph 2bis would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases.
Countries
SlovakiaTime period
2015–2023