The US plans to withdraw its Patriot missile defense system from Slovakia in the near future. According to official information, the background is long-planned maintenance work. According to speculation, the US Patriot system could then be delivered directly to Ukraine.
Slovakia, which borders directly on Ukraine, donated the country at war its only Soviet-type S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in early April. As a result, the NATO allies, the US, the Netherlands and Germany stationed a total of four Patriot systems so that the country would not be left without effective protection of its own airspace.
After the Netherlands has already withdrawn their system, the US must now follow suit. When exactly this will happen has not been disclosed for security reasons. It will be “only a matter of weeks,” Slovak ministry spokeswoman Martina Koval Kakascikova said Thursday. The official reason for the deduction is maintenance work. The spokeswoman does not want to say whether the missile defense system should then be delivered directly to Ukraine. As reported, the US government had announced that it would supply Patriot missile systems to Ukraine.
German systems remain
Which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also agreed to a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden. However, the German Patriot batteries are said to still be present at the Sliac military airport in Slovakia. During a visit to Bratislava in December, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht promised that the two patriots would stay in Slovakia at least until the end of 2023.
Source: Krone
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