Valasek, Krupa as well as Seliga Support Sending MiG-29s to Ukraine

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Slovakia doesn't currently use MiG-29 jet fighters and doesn't even know how to use them; Ukraine can ensure their service and use them, Independent MPs Tomas Valasek and Juraj Seliga concurred on Friday. Valasek called on the government not to hesitate. According to him, the jet fighters can fulfil their last task for the security of Slovakia. Head of the parliamentary defence committee Juraj Krupa (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) also supports the sending of MiG-29s to Ukraine. "Ukraine needs them now. Ukrainians know those fighters intimately and, unlike other Western systems, they could deploy them practically immediately in defence against the Russian aggressor," he stated, rejecting the hints from Smer-SD about the disarmament of Slovakia. He pointed out that the Slovak airspace is protected by allies and new F-16 jet fighters will arrive soon. "There's no hole in the defence of the Slovak sky and there isn't even a danger of it," he stressed. Seliga also expressed his approval for Slovakia to hand over the fighter jets to Ukraine after an agreement with its allies. "Our MiG-29 fighter jets are sitting in hangars at the airport. We cannot use them because the service is provided by Russian technicians who are not here, since Russia invaded Ukraine. Our allies help protect our airspace and the first F-16s will arrive next year. In Ukraine, these planes are able to save human lives and protect the Ukrainian people," he emphasised. The opposition Smer-SD party initiated an extraordinary session in connection with MiG-29s. It wants to push through a resolution by which Parliament will express its disagreement with weapons to Ukraine as being at odds with the Constitution. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday officially asked interim Premier Eduard Heger (OLaNO) for Slovak MiG-29s. Heger said that Slovakia will do its utmost to comply with the request. Fico argues that the interim government, in which Parliament expressed no confidence, doesn't have the competence to decide on fundamental foreign policy issues. Therefore, he criticises the promise of interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he'll do his utmost to move the MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. am/mcs