The Swiss Army has another version about the mission of the F-18 planes that escorted the Spartan aircraft of President Nicușor Dan upon his return to the country

Journalist Patrick Andre de Hillerin wrote on Thursday that the Swiss Ministry of Defense informed him that the two F-18 planes that accompanied Nicușor Dan's Spartan military plane on its return from France were doing the usual surveillance tour, known as “live missions”, and it was not a special gesture of thanks for Romania, as the head of state stated.

• HotNews has requested views from the Swiss Army, the Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, and the Presidential Administration regarding the information brought to the public's attention by journalist Patrick Andre de Hillerin, and we will publish them as soon as we receive them.

“During the flight, above the airspace of Switzerland, our aircraft was escorted by two F-18 planes, a gesture of appreciation for the support given in the international transport of the victims of the fire in Crans-Montana”, said Nicușor Dan on Wednesday.

What the Swiss Ministry of Defense sent to journalist Patrik Andre de Hillerin:

• “Your press request has been forwarded to the Army Press Office. I can provide you with the following information regarding your question:
• The Swiss Air Force uses «live missions» to carry out random checks to ensure that the information provided in the application for diplomatic clearance corresponds to the aircraft being flown (aircraft type, registration, route, etc.). After a short check, the jet patrol leaves again. The Air Force averages about 200 live missions per year, including the flight you mentioned.“

In his Facebook post, Patrick Andre de Hillerin criticizes the attitude of publications, including HotNews, who picked up the president's announcement and did not verify its veracity before publication.

The journalist also quotes, in his post, the Thursday statement of the Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, who emphasized that it was a gesture of “respect” on the part of the Swiss army.

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the presence of the two Swiss F/A 18 Hornets around the Spartan aircraft carrying our president was not a gesture of respect, but part of a regular air policing mission of the Swiss military aviation,” wrote Patrick Andre de Hillerin.

“So, nothing special, no special gesture of respect, but just a routine mission of the Swiss Air Force, as there are, on average, 200 other missions throughout a year. After the embarrassing situation in Paris, our president and his team wanted to increase the ridiculousness, inventing a blatant lie through which they tried to inflate the planetary importance of Mr. Nicușor Dan. (…) Basically, Nicușor Dan managed to climb on the corpses of the dead in Crans Montana to get a little bigger,” the journalist added.

Immediately after the publication of this message by journalist Patrick Andre de Hillerin, official sources specified for HotNews that the pilot of the military aircraft carrying President Nicușor Dan was informed that the Swiss F-18 fighter jets escorted the Spartan as a sign of appreciation.

Nicusor Dan traveled to Paris and back with the Spartan aircraft

President Nicușor Dan traveled to Paris for Tuesday's meeting of the “Coalition of the Will” supporting Ukraine in a Spartan military aircraft, which resulted in his being stranded at the airport for more than 24 hours due to bad weather conditions. In addition to these problems, Nicușor Dan drew attention after he said that when he is in the Spartan, “he is disconnected from the reality in Romania”, due to the technological deficiencies in the aircraft.

He emphasized, however, that Romania cannot afford a presidential plane. “Now is not the time,” reasoned the head of state.

Until now, President Nicușor Dan has traveled with the Spartan in all foreign trips, whether he went to Chisinau or Helsinki.

On Wednesday evening, the president returned to Romania from Paris with a delay of 24 hours and claimed that the Spartan aircraft with which he was heading to Bucharest was escorted by two F-18 planes while he was in the airspace of Switzerland, the head of state stating that it was “a gesture of appreciation” of the Swiss authorities for the help provided after the tragedy in Crans Montana.

“We arrived in Bucharest. During the flight, above the airspace of Switzerland, our aircraft was escorted by two F-18 planes, a gesture of appreciation for the support given in the international transport of the victims of the fire in Crans-Montana”, wrote the president Nicușor Dan, in a post on Facebook.

The support mentioned by Nicușor Dan referred to the Romanian military aircraft that transported, from Lausanne to Paris, six young people who suffered serious burns following the fire in Crans-Montana.

On Thursday, in a press conference, the Minister of Defense also said, regarding the Swiss fighter jets that flew alongside the Spartan aircraft with which the head of state returned from France: “It was a gesture of respect on the part of the Swiss for the support that Romania gave by transporting with the Spartan aircraft the wounded who were seriously burned in the fire that happened on January 1 in Switzerland.”

“It was a sign of gratitude and respect for the gesture that Romania made, I say, one that should have been made, one that is a gesture of reciprocity”, the minister also affirmed.