Government Office Rejects Smer-SD Attacks on Hybrid Threat Experts

Bratislava, May 31 (TASR) - The Government Office rejects attacks on state employees as part of an election campaign and takes objection to conspiracy theories spread by Smer-SD and Independent MP Tomas Taraba, TASR was told by the Government Office's press department on Wednesday. The Government Office was responding to claims made by Smer-SD chair Robert Fico, who stated that Slovak experts called the political opposition a hybrid threat at their EU and NATO meetings in Brussels. "It is legitimate when experts in state administration deal with hybrid threats, as many countries are the target of foreign meddling, particularly during election campaigns. It's also absolutely legitimate when they communicate with their counterparts in the EU or NATO, of which we are members," said the Government Office, condemning attempts to drag experts into the election campaign. When lists of names are created and disseminating conspiracy theories are attached to them, experts are made the target of deliberate intimidation. The Government Office added that the issue of hybrid threats has been neglected by the state for a long time. "The wake-up call was when Russia unleashed war directly on our border. Even though Slovakia hasn't yet been attacked by Russian soldiers, it's fighting against us in other ways - it's casting doubt over our democracy, our values, our allies and misusing complex topics to polarise society. The state needs to defend itself, and cooperation with our allies is necessary for that to happen," underlined the press department. Earlier in the day, Smer-SD chair Fico claimed that a group of Slovak state bureaucrats and NGOs informed EU and NATO officials in April that the Slovak political opposition poses a hybrid threat and that if it wins the parliamentary election, Slovakia might leave NATO. According to Fico, the group allegedly asked the EU and NATO for an intervention and for a "special NATO group" to be dispatched. Because of this, Fico wants to convene an extraordinary House session. mf/df