“I received a notification from the Italian government that the Italian air defense system, which they lent us for a year, will be withdrawn from Slovakia,” RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.
According to Fico, in Italy they explained this by saying that the Italians themselves need the air defense system “in another place.”
Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kaliniak previously shared concerns that the republic risks being left without air defense systems that could cover it.
He recalled that the allies had withdrawn Patriot systems from the country, and the Italians may not extend the mission to deploy SAMP/T systems.