Poland, Czechia to protect Slovakia's airspace

Poland and the Czech Republic agreed Saturday to protect Slovakia's airspace as Bratislava looks to give up the Soviet-made MiG-29 jets in its air force.

During an air show, the defense ministers of the three nations — Mariusz Blaszczak of Poland, Jana Cernochova of Czechia and Jaroslav Nad of Slovakia — signed the agreement governing the new airspace policy at the strategic Malacky air base near the Slovak capital.

The NATO allies vowed to provide air support to Slovakia until the country receives 14 new F-16s from the US, as is anticipated within two years in a deal inked in 2018.

Slovakia shares part of its border with western Ukraine. Moscow's war on Ukraine has thrown into peril long-held assumptions about European security and Russian power.

What did the three countries agree?

Poland and Czechia will provide air support assets sufficient to react on a moment's notice in the event of violations of Slovak airspace. A similar program of allied support known as air policing is in place in the Baltic states, which border Russia.

Starting September 1, Poland's F-16 fighter jets will patrol Slovakia's air space.

At the signing event, Blaszczak called the effort a way to "deter a possible aggressor."

What is behind the agreement?

Slovak Defense Minister Nad said last month that his country is considering donating its fleet of 11 aging MiG-29 jets to Ukraine if certain conditions are met.

Slovakia's MiGs are valued at roughly €300 million ($299 million). In the past, Slovakia said it would seek financial or material support for the modernization of the military.

Nad did not say whether the MiGs would go to Ukraine on Saturday, but he said Slovakia was in discussions with its NATO partners about how to best provide ongoing support to Ukraine.

Because of the legacy of Soviet occupation, Ukraine's armed forces are far more familiar with Soviet military equipment than newer Western kit.

Slovakia has already donated an S-300 air defense system, Mi-series military helicopters, self-propelled howitzers and Grad multiple-rocket launcher rockets to Ukraine. This week, Bratislava vowed to send an additional 30 tracked infantry fighting BVP-1 vehicles.

Many people in the region fear a return to a Russian-dominated order, which for many was characterized by a lack of political, social, economic and cultural freedom. Others remain nostalgic, with communism's more devastating approaches forgotten over time and supplanted with tender memories of youth, however restrictive those times were.

ar/fb (AP, Reuters)