Blanar: USA Complying with Rules When Flying Aircraft over Slovak Territory

Bratislava, 12 March (TASR) - The United States is complying with established rules when flying aircraft over Slovak territory and it's also regularly notifying Slovakia of its flights, stated Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) in response to questions from the opposition at Thursday's session of the parliamentary committee on European affairs regarding US aircraft overflights in connection with the conflict in the Middle East. "Many of the flights have been solely civilian flights without any ammunition involved, because if they had been bombers or aircraft intended directly for military activities, the Americans would have had to inform us," said Blanar. Slovakia's chief diplomat pointed out that Slovakia is bound by several agreements concerning aircraft overflights, including an agreement on defence cooperation between Slovakia and the United States. He confirmed that more than 500 US aircraft have flown over Slovak territory since the beginning of the military conflict in the Middle East, adding that proof of notification is also available at the Defence Ministry. MP Gabor Grendel ('Slovakia'-'For the People') has repeatedly criticised the overflights, claiming that no regulation requires Slovak state authorities to unconditionally accept overflights of any military aircraft. am/df