President: Slovak Military to Take Over Protection of Own Airspace Soon

Bratislava, 27 October (TASR) - The Slovak Armed Forces will take over the protection of Slovakia's airspace within the next few hours or days, using Slovak F-16 fighters, said President Peter Pellegrini in a speech delivered at the Chief of General Staff's Commanders' Assembly on Tuesday. Until now, Slovakia's airspace has been guarded by allies from neighbouring countries. "I congratulate the air force on taking over the protection of our airspace in the coming days using our F-16 fighters, and on the gradual arrival of additional batteries for our new air-defence system," said the president, adding that this is what the armed forces should look like and that Slovakia will once again be a sovereign country capable of defending its own airspace. He stressed that the proximity of the war in Ukraine makes airspace incursions a significant risk. The head of state praised the state's efforts to modernise its military equipment. Pellegrini noted that additional batteries of the air-defence system will be delivered to Slovakia. "At the same time, we also need the respective personnel for this. I'm very pleased that we've seen a positive trend recently regarding the number of professional soldiers. More people are joining the armed forces than leaving, and after a long period of stagnation, and sometimes even decline, the number of professional soldiers has finally begun to rise again," he said. In his address, the president also expressed support for the Defence Ministry's initiative to restore the Javorina military training area. The proposal has faced resistance from some locals and opposition politicians. The president defended the need to restore the training area by pointing to the reduced capacity available for training soldiers and other state security forces. Pellegrini also highlighted the fact that the military is among the institutions that are most trusted by Slovak citizens. He said that it is important that, alongside modernisation, the armed forces should remain committed to maintaining and further strengthening public trust. For several years, Slovakia's airspace has been protected by allies from Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. This arrangement followed the grounding of the country's MiG-29 fighters. Slovakia ordered 14 US-made F-16 fighters, which have already been delivered. Additional aircraft should be ordered by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the country is taking delivery of new batteries of the Israeli Barak MX air-defence system. ko/df