Korcok Blasts Blanar for Expensive "Purges" at Foreign Affairs Ministry (2)

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. Blanar responded by accusing Korcok of twisting the facts. "Previous governments, in which Mr. Korcok participated, ruined public finances to the extent that they indebted Slovakia by more than 20 billion euros. We now have to fix that and consolidate in order to get the country back on its feet. And when the lies spread by PS and Mr. Korcok — about supposed isolation, about us wanting to leave the EU, and other nonsense — don't gain any traction, he manipulates the public with claims of alleged political purges and casts doubt on the fact that people are entitled by law to receive all payments due to them in a lump sum," said Blanar in response. mf/df