Krupa: Operation 'Virus' Shows How Misgoverned Slovakia Was and Can Become Again

Bratislava, September 19 (TASR) - A police operation nicknamed Virus demonstrates how Slovakia used to be misgoverned and might easily become misgoverned again after the parliamentary election, when the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) and Military Intelligence were corrupted and misused by the political power, MP Juraj Krupa (SaS) stated in response to the indictment against two former heads of the Military Intelligence on Tuesday. "We're talking about extensive graft, as €74 million were stolen from the Military Intelligence. That's really a sky-high sum. A small hospital in Michalovce cost €30 million. We could have bought equipment to better protect our borders for that kind of money, for instance," said Krupa. He added that some political parties are attempting to draw the attention away from the corruption scandals of the past to different topics. As part of the Tuesday operation, charges have been pressed against former general director of a news-only television Michal G. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], with whom SaS chair Richard Sulik met before the 2020 election. Michal G. then organised a meeting with Maros Zilinka, who was running for the post of Prosecutor-General at the time, however the defendant didn't attend it. "I perceive any attempt to blow this out of proportion, dress it as a big scandal and drag me into this dirt as really unfair," underlined Sulik, who added that he had informed then-premier Igor Matovic (OLaNO) about the meeting. As part of an operation nicknamed Virus, NAKA indicted 16 individuals and two legal entities, including former Military Intelligence heads Lubomir S. and Jan B. [names abbreviated due to legal reasons]. The case revolves around allegedly overpriced tenders conducted by the Military Intelligence in 2013-20, which caused Slovakia financial damage of at least €74 million. mf/mcs