President: Slovakia Once Again Able to Defend Its Own Airspace

Bratislava, 28 October (TASR) - Slovakia is once again capable of defending its airspace using its own forces, President Peter Pellegrini announced on social media, adding that the airspace is being guarded by the Slovak Armed Forces using their own equipment once again. "I congratulate the Slovak Army on its readiness to defend our airspace using its own forces as of today. This is a significant step towards strengthening sovereignty, defence capabilities and the security of all Slovak citizens," stated the president. Pellegrini added that this is how modern armed forces should look and function. "Professional, confident and ready to defend their homeland," he said. The president announced that the Slovak military would resume full responsibility for protecting Slovak airspace in a speech he delivered at the Chief of General Staff's Commanders' Assembly on Tuesday (27 October). 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/mcs