Defence Minister: Our MiGs would never fly again, donation won't reduce our defensive power

Slovak MiG-29 jet fighters would never fly again, new pilots are not trained, and their storage requires costs, interim Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLANO) said on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday, adding that donating the aircraft to Ukraine wouldn't reduce Slovakia's defence capability, and 50-60 percent of their accounting value would be reimbursed to Slovakia through the European Peace Facility.
  Nad repeated the promise that he'll come to Parliament to discuss the issue when it is relevant. "When it comes to deciding on donating the MiGs to Ukraine and under what conditions, we'll first discuss it in Parliament," stressed Nad, indicating that he might come not only with information, but also with a draft resolution. According to him, he'll be happy to explain to MPs what costs would be required to maintain the jet fighters in our hangars. He noted that we have four pilots capable of flying them, and the training of new ones was stopped by the former government.
      I expect that Slovakia could receive around €150 million from the European Peace Facility for donating the jet fighters. I also assume that this help from our side to Ukraine motivates other countries to help us. He pointed out that after sending the S-300 air defence system to Ukraine, the USA provided us with the Patriot system for some time, and they gave us €200 million from their funds for new equipment. (TA3)