Opposition: Fico Was Lying about Coup in Slovakia in January

Bratislava, 7 August (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) lied about a coup d'état in Slovakia in January, representatives of the opposition parties agreed Thursday, responding to the Georgian National Legion leader Mamuk Mamulashvili's visit to Slovakia at the end of July. It was in January this year that the Slovak government accused Mamulashvili of participating in an alleged coup. Opposition's Progressive Slovakia (PS) MP Branislav Vanco said "it was just a smokescreen and a way to prevent the opposition from dismissing the government," he said, recalling that, in January, the government interrupted the house session on the ouster of the government, with Fico presenting a report about a coup being staged in Slovakia. He added the coalition was not able to prevent Mamulashvili from entering the territory of the Slovak Republic or the Schengen Area, as they had promised. The opposition party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Ondrej Dostal also pointed out that the government lied, misled and fabricated stories about the coup, and that Mamulashvili's visit to Bratislava only confirmed this. "Nobody who is normal would believe that people gathering peacefully and expressing their discontent with the pro-Russian foreign policy of Fico's government and with the weakening of democracy would want to organise a coup," he said, describing Fico's lies as ridiculous and even more difficult to believe. "The problem is that when Fico is making things up, and the opposition or the media are pointing to his fabrications, he doesn't even care. The question is whether he even knows that the Georgian was here," said MP Frantisek Miklosko (Christian Democrats/KDH). According to opposition MP Rastislav Kratky ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU), Fico abused the Slovak Intelligence Service in order to prevent people from learning the reasons for the ouster of the government, adding the opposition is being denied its constitutional right to dismiss ministers. Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) claims he was not aware of any information regarding Mamulashvili's visit to Bratislava, noting that information the government had in January was so serious at the time that it corresponded to the prime minister's statements about the coup d'etat. “The prime minister did not lie,” Susko added. He said he believes that Mamulashili's presence in Slovakia will be properly investigated. On Wednesday (8 August), journalist Tomas Forro published a video from Mamulashvili's visit to Bratislava in July. In an interview, the Georgian National Legion leader denied being banned entry into the Schengen Area and said he was the subject of a smear campaign. He described the statements about him in January as lies, asserting that he has not been in contact with any Slovak politicians. He also refuted statements about him staging a coup in Slovakia. "Quite the opposite, at the time when I was blamed for this, I was defending freedom and democracy, and not only in Ukraine," he noted. jrg/mcs/ko