Slovak prosecutor reopens probe into fighter jet donation to Ukraine

Oct 30 (Reuters) – Slovakia’s top prosecutor ordered on Friday a new probe into the donation of MiG-29 fighter jets and air defence systems to Ukraine by the country’s previous government, restarting an investigation ended earlier this year. 

The current government of Prime Minister Robert Fico, which pursues a more pro-Russian foreign policy and ended military aid for Ukraine, has repeatedly attacked the donation made in 2023.

The decision reopens a criminal case at the centre of a dispute between Fico’s government and its predecessors over military support for Ukraine.

Fico has said the donations left the country dependent on allied air patrolling, and a senior official in his party called it sabotage.

The country’s chief prosecutor, Maros Zilinka, said on Facebook on Friday he had ordered a new investigation as the previous one ended prematurely.

“In the preparatory proceedings, facts were not established in an extent necessary for a decision,” he said. 

A Bratislava regional prosecutor, Rastislav Remeta, said in ending the previous probe in February this year that the dozen Soviet-era MiG-29 jets and the KUB air defence systems were outdated, not fully operational and lacked pilots and missiles. He said their donation was no crime.

The defence minister at the time, Jaroslav Nad, has denied any wrongdoing.

The case is an illustration of the highly polarised Slovak political scene, where Fico has repeatedly accused his predecessors of pursuing criminal prosecutions against his party when he was in opposition.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Xevi Fontdegloria)