Democrats Say Barak MX System in Slovakia Not Slovak-Owned, Ministry Denies That

Bratislava, 15 May (TASR) - The new Barak MX air defence system does not belong to Slovakia but to the Israeli manufacturer, the extra-parliamentary party Democrats declared on Thursday. According to the party, the loaned system is not integrated into NATO's collective defence system. In its response, the Defence Ministry called such claims misleading. The ministry stated that the Slovak Barak MX battery is the first of its kind within the NATO system and therefore has to undergo acceptance and verification procedures. "(Defence Minister) Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) spent a year and a half improvising with Patriots and NASAMS only to return in the end to our solution. He promised that the Barak system would be here by the end of 2025. The result? The system will not be here even by the 2027 election and, moreover, the battery currently in Slovakia does not belong to the Slovak armed forces," said Democrats chair and former defence minister (2020-23) Jaroslav Nad. The Democrats claimed that the battery presented by the defence minister is not the one Slovakia ordered. Kalinak responded by saying that the Democrats had "rediscovered the wheel". "As has already been repeatedly presented and announced by our side, including during the initial briefing, the individual components of the battery are not solely Slovak-owned. However, the missiles, radars, and service and testing facilities are Slovak, while the launchers, for example, are on loan. The Israeli side lent us the individual components free of charge," said Kalinak. He added that integrating the batteries into NATO systems takes several weeks. mf