Slovakia and Poland are ready to jointly transfer MiG-29s to Ukraine

Together with Slovakia, Poland is ready to hand over MiG-29 fighter jets to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Jaroslav Nad’, Minister of Defense of Slovakia, announced this.

He noted that he spoke with Mariusz Błaszczak, Head of the Polish Ministry of Defense, at the meeting of EU defense ministers on March 8 in Stockholm, and he said that Warsaw would agree to a joint process of transferring MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.

“I think it’s time to make a decision. People are dying in Ukraine, we can really help them, and there is no place for Slovak politicization. It is inhumane and irresponsible,” Nad’ wrote.

In an interview with CNN, President of Poland Andrzej Duda also confirmed his readiness to take such actions.

The day before, he stated that Warsaw is ready to transfer its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine as part of an international coalition.

Transfer of MiG-29s

The Slovak authorities announced the possibility of transferring Soviet fighter jets to Ukraine as early as last year. However, the conversation did not progress further.

On September 1, 2022, Slovakia decommissioned its 11 MiG-29 fighter jets.

Ukraine could be getting these fighter aircraft. In April, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger promised to hand them over to Kyiv.

On February 5, Oleksii Reznikov, Head of the Ministry of Defense, shared that the Allies will provide the Armed Forces with tactical aviation and that “only the type of fighter aircraft is being discussed.”

On February 9, 2023, Heger promised that the Slovak authorities would do everything possible to hand aircraft over to Ukraine.

On March 2, Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad’ shared that Bratislava is considering providing Ukraine with 10 of its 11 Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets, which the Slovak army decommissioned last year.