“He acted as if instructed by Moscow.” The Minister of Defense claims that Fico endangered the operation with the S-300 by publishing information – HNonline.sk

Slovakia is also negotiating with Ukraine on the possibility of delivering Zuzana howitzers or repairing damaged combat vehicles. This was stated by the Minister of Defense Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO) in the Sunday discussion O five Minutes 12 in RTVS, stating that in the case of howitzers it should be a sale. The head of the department declares that the government has decided to hand over the S-300 air defense system to Ukraine. He apologized for the deception “The Cabinet negotiated this in secret and adopted a resolution to do so, which was not made public, because secrecy would lose its meaning,” he said. He noted that an agreement was also signed with Ukraine in secret. The minister apologized to the public for lying to the S-300 in recent days. “It was with a good goal to ensure operational safety,” he said. According to Naďa, the publication of information about the S-300 by the leader of the opposition Smer-SD, Robert Fico, was at a time when the system was already in Ukraine. However, he thinks that the opposition politician threatened the operation and acted as if instructed by Moscow. He called the gift a responsible decision. The government, it claims, acted within the framework of the UN Charter. “Ukrainians know how to use this system and it represents a great opportunity for them to defend themselves,” he noted. He rejects claims that Slovakia does not have adequate compensation for the S-300. In Slovakia, the S-300 was practically nothing. He points to the Patriot air defense system, which was provided to Slovakia by NATO allies. “One Patriot battery is technologically significantly better than one S-300 battery from the late 1980s, which has not been modernized,” the minister said. According to him, the S-300 would end up in Slovakia in two years at the latest. At the same time, he pointed out that the S-300 was not involved and adequately functional, and thus provided Slovakia with virtually zero airspace protection. “Currently, the Patriot is involved non-stop, the supply of the fourth battery will cover the protection of Slovakia from the west to the east,” he said. According to the Minister, the Patriot will be in Slovakia for as long as necessary and for as long as Slovakia wants. He also recalled that the system was provided by the Allies free of charge. According to Naďa, in the case of MIG-29 fighters in Slovakia, Russian technicians began to leave for Russia. “Soon it will be a problem to keep the MIGs up,” the minister warned, adding that the sooner we ground these fighters, the better. However, he noted that within NATO, Slovakia is currently dealing with adequate compensation and negotiating an alternative until the ordered F-16 fighters arrive in Slovakia.