German-owned Patriot missile air defence systems are set to remain in Slovakia until the end of 2023 at the very least. Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad and his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht confirmed this at a press conference held in Bratislava on Monday. Germany is supposed to also provide Slovakia with an additional air defence missile system, due to be deployed in eastern Slovakia. "It's a short-range system, designed for the defence of specific locations," claimed Nad, who refused to provide more details at this stage. As for the two Patriot air defence systems, the two ministers concurred that they will stay deployed in Slovakia until the end of 2023 at the minimum. "We've concurred that if the German side needs to withdraw them due to servicing and maintenance, either some other alliance country with a system identical or compatible with Patriot will replace them or we will seek solutions together with Germany - maybe some other system might replace Patriot," said Nad. The Slovak minister announced that Slovakia will adopt additional measures to reinforce its anti-air defence, including taking decisions at the national level to acquire its own systems.
Source: TASR
