Italian authorities have announced plans to withdraw SAMP/T medium-range air defense systems from Slovakia. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he received a notification from the Italian government that the Italian air defense system, which they lent us for a year, will be withdrawn.
Fico recalled that the allies had withdrawn Patriot systems from the country, and the Italians may not extend the mission to deploy SAMP-T systems. He said the Italians explained this by saying that the Italians themselves need the airdefense system “in another place”