The President of Slovakia considers the transfer of MiG-29s to Ukraine a mistake, not a pile of scrap metal.

The President of Slovakia criticized the transfer of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine

The President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, expressed disagreement with the decision of the previous government to transfer MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, calling it a “mistake,” and questioned the assertion that they were “a pile of scrap metal.”

On his Facebook page, Pellegrini emphasized that ensuring the protection of one’s own airspace is an important element of every country’s sovereignty. As the Prime Minister of Slovakia from 2018 to 2020, he instructed to maintain the combat readiness of the fighters until their replacement with new F-16 models. According to him, the government’s decision to transfer the aircraft left the country dependent on the help of neighbors.

In response to statements by the former ruling coalition that the fighters were unusable, Pellegrini assured: “If that were the case, they would not have been able to fly from Slovakia to Ukraine. I personally was convinced of their functionality during the flight.”

The president also distanced himself from political disputes surrounding the transfer of the fighters, emphasizing that the public has the right to know whether Eduard Heger’s government had the right to proceed with such a step without parliamentary trust.

The words of the pro-Russian Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, contain additional criticism of the prosecutor’s office, which found no violations in the transfer of aircraft to Ukraine. According to him, the prosecutor’s office took the position of the opposition in this case, supporting the transfer. All 13 MiG-29 fighters from Slovakia have been in Ukraine since April 17, 2023.