NATO state claims delivery of jets to Kiev was ‘illegal’

The previous government of Slovakia had no right to donate Soviet-era MiG-29 warplanes to Ukraine, Bratislava’s state secretary to the minister of defense, Igor Melicher has claimed.In March 2023, the interim government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger authorized the delivery of 13 MiG-29s to Kiev, according to the Slovak national broadcaster TASR.

The new government, led by Robert Fico, who is recovering from an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukrainian activist that he has blamed on a ‘hateful’ political climate, had requested a legal review of the shipment.

On Tuesday, Melicher announced that “The MiG-29 fighter jets were delivered to Ukraine illegally,” adding that that the Defense Ministry is “preparing legal action.”

Melicher made his statement after ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky, tasked with reviewing the delivery of the aircraft, revealed that the government was unable to locate a legal analysis on the aid to Kiev.

“The ministry recently told me that it was trying to comply with the request and find the analysis. However, it said that neither it nor any of its branches had the analysis at their disposal,” Dobrovodsky told TASR on Tuesday. “It also stated that the analysis isn’t even registered in its databases in any form.”