BUCHAREST: The first group of Ukrainian pilots has started its F-16 fighter jet training at Romania’s regional hub this week, the NATO country’s defense ministry told AFP on Friday.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv has been looking to boost its air force, asking the West to donate advanced military jets and sending pilots to train in NATO countries, including France.
Romania inaugurated a hub for F-16 training at its Fetesti air base in November 2023, pledging to also train Ukrainians there.
The first four Ukrainian pilots arrived earlier this week and have started their “theoretical training,” Romanian defense ministry spokesperson Constantin Spinu told AFP.
He said that practical training could begin “toward the end of the year.”
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov welcomed the program on social media, saying it would ensure that there are “more F-16s in Ukrainian skies.”
The Fetesti hub is part of the country’s air base situated about 150 kilometers outside the capital Bucharest, and was inaugurated after an agreement with the Netherlands was reached to make several F-16s available for training.
The planes are maintained by its US-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin, who also provides the training.
The Romanian army has 26 F-16 jets in total, of which 17 were bought from Portugal and nine from Norway.
Norway is due to supply a further 23 jets to Romania by the end of 2025.
Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Romania
https://arab.news/n2p4w
Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Romania
- The first four Ukrainian pilots arrived earlier this week and have started their “theoretical training“
- Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov welcomed the program on social media, saying it would ensure that there are “more F-16s in Ukrainian skies“
Senegal to suspend all extraditions to France
- A French appeals court in late November requested details from Dakar regarding Senegal’s request to extradite media magnate and government critic Madiambal Diagne
DAKAR: Senegal has “decided to suspend” all extraditions to France, Dakar’s justice minister said, accusing Paris of refusing to hand over two Senegalese citizens to the West African country.
The row comes after the French courts postponed a decision last month on whether to return a Senegalese press baron critical of the Senegalese government, and as Dakar seeks the extradition of a businessman under investigation for financial irregularities.
“We have two Senegalese nationals in France. France, up to now, has not returned them to Senegal, which has provided all the justifications and continues to request their extradition,” Justice Minister Yassine Fall told parliament, without specifying who the two people were.
As a result of France’s non-cooperation, Senegal will refuse to extradite 12 people wanted by France “until France responds favorably to what we have requested,” Fall said.
“If these people are guilty of crimes, we arrest them. We do not do as France does. We do not let them remain free,” the minister added.
A French appeals court in late November requested details from Dakar regarding Senegal’s request to extradite media magnate and government critic Madiambal Diagne, who fled to France in late September and is subject to a Senegalese arrest warrant for alleged financial irregularities.
Two journalists were arrested in Senegal in October after conducting separate interviews with Diagne, sparking an outcry among press groups and the political class, which called the detentions a severe attack on freedom of speech. Both were freed within the week.
Since toppling former President Macky Sall in 2024, considered one of France’s closest allies in West Africa, the Senegalese government has adopted a more critical stance toward Paris, without completely turning its back on the country’s former colonial ruler.
