Justice Ministry Rejects Kolikova’s Criticism, Blames Her for Current Situation

Bratislava, 4 July (TASR) – The Justice Ministry has dismissed recent criticism from former justice minister (2020-22) and SaS vice-chair Maria Kolikova regarding delays in key justice sector milestones from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, labeling her claims as disinformation. The ministry asserted on Friday that serious problems have been left behind from the era of Kolikova's tenure and the ministry is now focused on minimizing the damage through crisis management. The remarks were provided by ministry spokesperson Petar Lazarov on Friday. „Upon taking office, we immediately identified problem areas and introduced emergency measures to either reverse or limit the damage caused by previous governments. We implemented crisis management that has delivered results Ms. Kolikova could only dream of,” the ministry stated. It admitted, however, that despite significant effort, not all projects are going to be saved and some EU funds are will inevitably be lost due to delays. Earlier in the day, Kolikova had criticized the ministry for missing reconstruction deadlines for court buildings and for failing to modernize the Slovak Business Register. She warned of possible forfeiture of recovery funds and accused current minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) of neglecting his responsibilities in favor of politically motivated priorities. In its response, the ministry claimed Kolikova deliberately misrepresented facts about the selection of a building for the future Bratislava III District Court. „The building in question, which will also house Bratislava IV District Court, was selected in a timely and transparent public tender and is owned by the state. Its purchase is clearly more economical than the building previously considered by Kolikova’s administration,” the ministry stated, adding that the project is proceeding on schedule and its funding is not at risk. The ministry also rejected Kolikova’s criticism of the business register modernization, noting that the public procurement process was launched under her leadership. „The lengthy procurement process cannot be blamed on the current ministry management. Rather, it is a consequence of Kolikova’s unprofessional approach,” the statement said. The ministry claims it is now using all available measures to ensure the project can still be funded through the recovery plan. Regarding data on the justice system, the ministry refuted Kolikova’s claim that such data is lacking. „If Ms. Kolikova says we don’t have the data, and then claims the reforms are working because court proceedings are faster, there are only two possibilities — either she is misleading the public or she has no idea what she’s talking about. Sadly, both are likely true,” the ministry concluded. It added that available data show longer court proceedings despite increases in judicial staff, suggesting that the reform’s effectiveness is questionable. mf