Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, speaks with from right, Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger, right, Latvia's Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins and Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Fiala during a meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on February 9, 2023. (source: TASR/AP/Johanna Geron)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially asked interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger for the delivery of Slovak MiG-29 jets during his Thursday visit to Brussels.
"We talked about the military and humanitarian aid that Slovakia provided us," Zelensky said.
The president also thanked Slovakia for the already provided help, as well as for the treatment of Ukrainian refugees. Heger and he talked about the protection of Ukrainian skies and the need for Western fighter jets, too.
"I asked the prime minister to help us in this regard," Zelensky said.
Extraordinary session
According to Heger, Slovakia will do everything it can to comply with the request. The Slovak Defence Ministry has confirmed that further military help for Ukraine is being discussed.
Next Tuesday, an extraordinary parliamentary session in regards to MiG-29 jets is going to be held. Opposition party Smer leader Robert Fico is criticising Heger for wanting to deliver the jets and calls the effort unconstitutional.
Fico says that the interim government is not competent to make such decisions when it comes to international politics.
The jets have been grounded since the end of last summer because they are not compatible with NATO allies' technologies and cannot be modernised. Slovakia's airspace has been guarded by Poland and Czechia for more than five months as the supply of US jets is delayed until next year.
New air defence systems to arrive
The Defence Ministry has also said that Germany will provide Slovakia with two modern MANTIS air defence systems, which will strengthen the protection of the eastern border with Ukraine.
According to Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO), Slovakia will receive the systems free of charge and permanently.
Each of the two systems consists of eight automatic weapon stations, two radar stations and a command post. Included is a special radar with a range of up to 100 kilometres and training for Slovak soldiers.
The stationary system is a fully automated platform designed for the continuous protection of ground objects from missiles, artillery systems, mortars and unmanned aerial vehicles.
