Korcok Blasts Blanar for Expensive "Purges" at Foreign Affairs Ministry

Bratislava, 5 June (TASR) - Ivan Korcok, a member of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party and a former foreign affairs minister (2020-22), criticised incumbent Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) on Thursday for spending hundreds of thousands of euros on personnel "purges" at the ministry during a time of fiscal consolidation. "At a time of fiscal consolidation, when the entire country is tightening its belt, VAT is being increased and public holidays cancelled, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has had to pay nearly one million euros to dismissed employees due to Juraj Blanar's purges," stated Korcok. He added that this money is now missing from the ministry's budget and could have been used elsewhere. "But it's not just a financial loss; it's also a professional, expert, personnel and reputation loss," he warned. mf/df