Poland wins approval from Berlin to send MIG-29s to Ukraine
The German Defense Ministry approved the re-export of five Polish MiG-29s to Ukraine on Thursday, settling the issue the same day Warsaw applied for permission.
Defense officials in Berlin, keen to erase Germany's reputation for slowness vis-à-vis Ukraine, stressed the swiftness of the approval. "The request only came today," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement, saying "Germany can be relied upon." A radical change of position compared to the melina that was made even just a few months ago.
The Soviet-era warplanes originally belonged to the former East German army. The German government handed them over to Poland in 2003 with the caveat that subsequent transfers to other countries must be authorized by Berlin.
Poland has delivered eight MiG-29s to Ukraine and Slovakia has promised to deliver 13 more jets, four of which were delivered last month. European and US officials believe the planes are more useful to Kiev than Western ones because Ukrainian forces have experience flying and maintaining them.
However, some NATO countries have begun training Ukrainian pilots in more modern aircraft, such as F-16s, with the aim of creating a post-war Ukrainian air force.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany was considered by some allies, especially those in Eastern Europe formerly under Soviet rule, too shy to support Ukraine with military aid. Berlin has since started to be more forward-thinking in its arms donations, which include modern Leopard 2 tanks, which are also used by the country's armed forces.
Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita quoted Jacek Siewiera, head of Poland's National Security Bureau, as saying that Poland is still using "about 12" of the MiG-29s it secured from Germany. For this reason, the transfer could weaken the air combat capabilities of the Polish Army in the short term.
Poland's upcoming donation of MiG-29s will come as the air force awaits the delivery of South Korea's first FA-50 light attack aircraft. Last September, Warsaw signed two agreements to purchase 48 jets of this type to replace Soviet-made aircraft. The first 12 light attack aircraft will be supplied this year and another 36 between 2025 and 2028. In addition, the Polish Air Force will also get 32 F-35 Lightning II fighters, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2024.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov denied on April 12 that his country had agreed to donate its MiG-29s to Ukraine, while admitting that the Bulgarian government has discussed with allies the possibility of exchanging the weapons of Soviet-made country with Western equipment, suggesting that Sofia may be interested in swapping MiG-29s for NATO-made aircraft.
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The article Poland earns approval from Berlin to send MIG-29s to Ukraine comes from Scenari Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-polonia-guadagna-lapprovazione-di-berlino-per-linvio-dei-mig-29-in-ucraina/ on Fri, 14 Apr 2023 15:13:35 +0000.