Former defense minister Jaroslav Naď stated in a TV appearance that intelligence agencies had discovered a Russian plan to rig upcoming parliamentary elections in Slovakia in favor of the Smer party.
As a Smer victory could change policy in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Naď claimed that Russia hired Slovak citizens to manipulate elections.
“We have received intelligence information from abroad, including the exact person, time and place, where a citizen of the Slovak Republic was in Russia to receive financial resources in favour of the political party Smer-SD to manipulate the election.”
Jaroslav Naď, former defense minister of Slovakia
The information, which was allegedly provided to the police as well, was to be delivered to Slovakia’s top constitutional officers.
A member of Smer’s leadership Robert Kaliák said that the party had never accepted “external money” and referred to the claim as “unbelievable gibberish.” Smer is presently in the lead in surveys with its demands to halt the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
Naď omitted to give any further information, including how the Russian manipulation was expected to take place. Slovakia expelled Russian diplomats last year for paying Slovak nationals to spy for Russia.
Boris Kollár, Speaker of the House, declined to comment. “I most definitely won’t share this knowledge with the public or the media. They are a secret, ” he informed Dennk N.
Following an EU funding controversy, Slovakia is being run by a technocratic administration with an early election scheduled for September 30.
After a Smer victory, Slovakia’s foreign policy might substantially change. The Smer administration supported EU sanctions against Russia in 2014, although Robert Fico, the government’s leader, referred to them as “senseless” in the same year. Additionally, after a meeting with Putin in 2016, he requested their removal.
For comparing NATO soldiers to the Nazi army and attributing the Russian invasion to the United States, Fico’s party is under pressure to be expelled from the Party of European Socialists.
According to a recent study, 34% of Slovaks, over twice as Hungarians 19%, believe that the “West provoked Russia” into starting the conflict. Only 4% of Poles agree with the statement.
Photo: Jaro Nad/Facebook
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