Slovakia receives no compensation for MiG-29 fighters transferred to Ukraine

Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak has said that his country had not received the €700 million compensation promised by the European Union and the United States for the donation of 13 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine in April 2023.

"The last government (which was in power until the middle of autumn 2023) caused damage to [the republic] by the fact that we were left without our own missile defense, without combat aircraft and, finally, we do not have the promised [€]700 million for MiGs, which the [former] government also transferred to Ukraine. It is doubtful that anything will come at all in the future. We don't know," Kalinyak said, Pravda reports.

The EU, according to the minister, confirmed that Slovakia will not receive compensation for fighter jets in 2024. Slovak media reported in September 2023 that the European Peace Fund had sent €82 million to the republic for the assistance previously provided to Ukraine, and Slovakia would soon receive another €5.5 million. Then Bratislava, according to local media, will be able to count on compensation for the transferred MiG-29 fighters.