Strasbourg, March 14 (CTK) – People’s mistrust of their own state institutions is one of the alarming aspects of the situation in Slovakia after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, Slovak MEP Ivan Stefanec told CTK today, referring to a report a delegation of six MEPs released on return from Bratislava.
“The report was released this morning. There are three most concerning things in it. First, it is people’s strong mistrust of their own state institutions, namely the police and the prosecutor’s office,” Stefanec (European People’s Party, EPP) said.
“Second, the report speaks of a suspected misuse of EU subsidies in agriculture, which the Slovak Supreme Audit Office also spoke of,” Stefanec said.
Third, the report suggests that the case needs to be investigated internationally, he added.
Doubts about the independence of Slovak investigation have also been voiced by EPP faction head Manfred Weber, who said the EP’s initiative in this respect will continue.
Weber said Robert Kalinak’s recent resignation as Slovak interior minister was a positive but still insufficient reaction.
Stefanec said the suspected misuse of EU funds, which Kuciak mentioned in his last, unfinished article, will be checked by the special parliamentary committee TAXE 3.
The EPP is going to propose the introduction of a new programme named after Kuciak and designated for young journalists, Stefanec said.
A political crisis burst out in Slovakia in the wake of the late February murder of Kuciak, an investigative journalist, and his fiancee. In an unfinished story, Kuciak wrote about the businesses and possible subsidy frauds of Italian entrepreneurs based in eastern Slovakia who were linked to the mafia and to close assistants of PM Robert Fico.
A number of MEPs paid honour to Kuciak and his partner by carrying leaflets with their portraits and motto “AllForJan” to the EP session today.