Slovakia Has No Air Defence, Pellegrini Warns after Drone Incident in Poland

      Osaka, 10 September (TASR-correspondent) - The violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones on Wednesday night was a very dangerous matter, stated President Peter Pellegrini during his visit to Japan on Wednesday, calling for a de-escalation in tension.
        In this context, he said that Slovakia doesn't have air defence. In his view, this is a gamble with the security of the country.
        The Polish military shot down several drones on Wednesday night after multiple violations of the country's airspace.
        "I'd like to point to what I often say, which is that the Slovak Republic is in a very dangerous position today, as it doesn't have and doesn't possess any means of air defence," stressed the head of state. If a similar situation were to occur in Slovakia, said the president, people could only hope that drones wouldn't fall on a populated area.
        According to Pellegrini, the absence of air defence is a gamble with security, so there's a need to do everything possible to ensure that Slovakia provides such a system. He described the situation in Poland as "a big reminder and a warning finger".
        Pellegrini currently has no information about the risk of a targeted attack on Slovakia. However, he's concerned about technical failures that could cause a drone or missile attacking targets near the Slovak border to deviate from its trajectory and hit an unintended target. "Slovakia today is naked and barefoot and unable to react immediately if our airspace is violated by a drone, as was the case in Poland," he stated.