Slovakia to support Ukraine in building defense fortifications
Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, January 24, 2024, Uzhhorod. Photo: Telegram / Denys Shmyhal
Slovak private companies will supply Ukraine with engineering equipment for the construction of defense lines.
The equipment includes armored excavators and demining machines, according to Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Rubryka reports, citing Ukrinform.
"Today, Ukraine is building an extensive three-tier defensive line — protection on all fronts. The government has allocated billions of hryvnias for this purpose. Such protection will allow us to both deter the enemy and advance. We need a considerable amount of additional engineering equipment. With Prime Minister Fico, we agreed to cooperate on supplying such equipment from the Slovak Republic," said Shmyhal.
He noted that Slovak private companies would supply armored excavators and demining machines based on the T-72 tank.
"Today, I can say that Slovakia has already made a decision to supply two demining machines, 'Bozhena-4,' so that our sappers can carry out relevant work in the de-occupied part of the Kherson region. We are extremely grateful for this," Shmyhal said.
As previously reported, Ukrainians and Slovaks are already jointly producing certain types of military equipment in Slovakia, and this cooperation will be expanded.
On the morning of January 24, in the city of Uzhhorod, located near the border with Slovakia, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal began a meeting with the head of the Slovak government, Robert Fico.
During today's meeting between Prime Ministers Denys Shmyhal and Robert Fico, an agreement was reached that the Slovak government would not block Ukraine from purchasing weapons and equipment from Slovak businesses.
What we know about Slovakia's assistance to Ukraine
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Slovakia has provided €671 million in military assistance to Ukraine. This included, for example, 13 MiG-29 fighter jets, the S-300 air defense missile system, about 30 infantry fighting vehicles, and ten Zuzana-2 self-propelled howitzers.
Ukraine and Slovakia have also signed a contract for the production of the Zuzana 2 self-propelled artillery.
Also, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is in negotiations with Croatian DOK-ING and Slovak Way Industries for the localization of the production of demining machines in Ukraine.
Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová stated that Bratislava was ready to help Ukraine as quickly as possible to meet the requirements for full membership in the European Union.
On October 26, the new Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, announced that his government was stopping military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, he stated that the government would not block the supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine from private manufacturers.
During her working trip to Bratislava, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko met with Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery, Resilience, and Utilization of EU Funds of the Slovak Republic Peter Kmeť. The sides discussed the implementation of three large-scale projects in the field of infrastructure and energy. In particular, they discussed steps necessary to accelerate the reconstruction of the interstate electric interconnector "Mukachevo – Vel'ke Kapušany."
