Russia offers Slovakia two planes and causes a political dilemma

Russia has offered to sell two aircraft for the Slovak Government's air fleet, and Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák is considering this, but such a purchase of Russian planes could be a problem, especially because no international competition has been announced, SME daily reports. Kaliňák is considering the Russian offer at a time when democratic countries are curtailing business relations with Russia, notes the daily. The Interior Ministry has been discussing aircraft exchanges for some time, but without result. "Slovakia needs one aircraft that is able to fly across oceans and at least one medium-range plane," said Interior Ministry spokesman Petar Lazarov. Apart from Russian planes, Slovakia has also had offers from the West, one from an airline from Austria, one from the Swiss and another offer came from the USA. Security analyst Marián Majer from the Central European Policy Institute (CEPI) said that accepting the Russian offer would be politically unacceptable. "If we're going down the path of getting rid of our dependence on Russian equipment, it makes no sense to have a Russian aircraft," he stated.