Polish Embassy Surprised by Danko's Statement on Refusal of Flight Over Poland

Warsaw/Bratislava, January 13 (TASR) - The Polish Embassy in Bratislava expressed surprise at the statement by House Vice-chair Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) regarding Poland's refusal to grant permission for the flight of a Slovak parliamentary delegation over its territory on their way to Moscow, TASR learnt from the embassy's statement on Monday. The Slovak parliamentary delegation led by Danko and another Parliamentary Vice-chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) departed on Sunday (January 12) to visit Russia. The flight route passed though the Czech Republic and Germany, which Danko explained by the ban on flying over Polish territory. From there, the plane continued over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Kalingrad region, Lithuania, and Belarus to Moscow. "I don't understand Poland's stance, but I accept it as a reality," said Danko. However, the Polish Embassy stated in a press release that the Polish side has received a request for overflight approval but asked for additional documentation due to its incompleteness, including the submission of a standard note. According to the embassy, the Slovak side informed them of a change in the flight route before the request was assessed. In this context, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz stated, according to the newspaper Rzeczpospolita that the relations between Poland and Slovakia are good and that he welcomes flights to Warsaw, not to Moscow. The return of the parliamentary delegation from Russia is scheduled for Wednesday, January 15. lin