SVK Parliament gives "yes" to agreement with CZE REP on airspace defence cooperation

SVK Members of Parliament approved the Draft Treaty between the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic for Cooperation on Mutual Protection of Airspace. They also expressed their agreement with deployments of SVK Armed Forces personnel to the Czech Republic and with the presence of Czech Armed Forces personnel in the Slovak Republic to advance cooperation on mutual defence of airspace. Both countries protect their airspace through the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS), as part of which they have been engaged in cooperation as well. However, the new interstate agreement extends this cooperation by ensuring airspace defence in the event of one party temporarily losing its capability to defend its own airspace. This means that if either the Slovak Republic or the Czech Republic fails to secure its airspace, based on the agreement and at the request of one party, the other party will do so with its own assets. The Agreement will be supported by an Implementation Agreement. A potential incident response in the common airspace will be dealt with in line with the internal regulatory laws of the state where the incident response will occur. Under normal conditions, Slovakia and Czechia will continue to defend their airspace independently.