President: Getting Rid of MiG-29 Fighters Mistake

Bratislava, 7 February (TASR) - It was a mistake for Slovakia to dispose of its MiG-29 fighters, for which it had no replacement at the time, President Peter Pellegrini posted on social media on Saturday, adding that he's convinced that the ability to protect its airspace is a sign of sovereignty for every country. "No other country has done this in such a way that, after donating its own weapons, it would be solely dependent on the help of its neighbours," wrote Pellegrini, adding that, as prime minister, he issued an order to keep the then Slovak MiG-29 fighters combat-ready until new American F-16 aircraft take over their role. Pellegrini rejects the claims of the then government that the MiG-29 fighters were just a pile of scrap metal. "If that were the case, none of them would have been able to fly from Slovakia to Ukraine," he noted. The head of state noted that he won't get involved in the political and criminal disputes that have arisen in recent days over the donation of the fighters. "However, the people of Slovakia have the right to know whether the then [Eduard] Heger's government, ruling without the confidence of Parliament, had the right to donate our MiGs to Ukraine," he added. The law-enforcement authorities have dropped three out of four criminal investigations related to the aid given to Ukraine during the previous parliamentary term. By discontinuing criminal investigations or rejecting criminal complaints, they halted cases concerning the donation of MiG-29 fighters and the S-300 air-defence system along with the termination of a contract with a Russian company providing maintenance for the fighters. The police are still investigating the handover of technical documentation to Ukraine's military attache. am