EU Summit: Slovakia to Receive Less Money from EPF for Mig-29 Fighters

Brussels, March 22 (TASR-correspondent) - The wording of the European Council's conclusions in the sphere of common defence has been slightly corrected in the part concerning the approval of the eighth tranche of money paid to member countries providing military aid to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility (EPF), with the correction also concerning Slovakia and the money it expects for providing its Mig-29 fighters to Ukraine, TASR has learnt from its Brussels correspondent. Politico weekly on its website pointed out that the part of the conclusions on Ukraine and defence, requesting the rapid approval of the eighth tranche of payment via the EPF, has been changed. According to Politico, the original wording has been weakened and the requirement is now only to "work" on releasing this tranche. The instalment, amounting to €500 million, has been blocked by Hungary for several months. The problem is the inclusion of Hungary's OTP bank on the Ukrainian list of international sponsors of the war, which means that the promised money won't get to its anticipated recipients. Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) pointed to this situation following the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday (March 18). He said that he was worried about information that Slovakia will receive less than the originally expected sum from the EPF for the Mig-29 fighters that it donated to Ukraine last April, as the final tranche of reimbursement has been suspended. The reimbursement might decrease because after Slovakia, other EU countries also began to demand that their military equipment should be refunded from the EPF, and the sum of €500 million is gradually being redistributed among more and more applicants. ko/df