Danko Urges Lajcak to Explain Alleged Emails with Jeffrey Epstein

Bratislava, 14 November (TASR) – Coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) chair Andrej Danko has called on former foreign minister (2012-20) and current adviser to the prime minister Miroslav Lajcak to clarify whether a reported email exchange with late US financier Jeffrey Epstein is genuine. "Miroslav Lajcak was and is a top diplomat. There is no doubt that he's a professional, and so he should take a professional approach to this matter, as should those around him. He should above all say whether the communications in those emails are authentic," said Danko at a press conference on Friday. Danko also wants to know which of the messages are genuine and why Lajcak acted as he allegedly did. If Lajcak denies this email exchange, it will be necessary to identify the person who communicated with Epstein by email. "We'll then take the appropriate action," added Danko. The SNS head also called on then-deputy foreign minister Ivan Korcok (PS) to clarify whether he was aware of this communication. "I expect them to say whether Korcok, Lajcak or other people actually met such individuals, what the purpose was, and whether they received any financial benefits," he stated. At the same time, the SNS leader expects current Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) to review all communications of his predecessors at the ministry. He wants to know whether representatives of the ministry were passing information to a foreign power. He assumes that the ministry holds an archive of communications. Danko also wants Blanar to ensure that there is no leakage of any information. "Such a scandal has never occurred here, which directly shows that, in some kind of group, information revealing what's behind the scenes of [Slovak] politics is being passed via a network of people to the president of the United States. I cannot recall in history such a tangible piece of evidence being within reach," he remarked. The Oversight Committee of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday (12 November) published thousands of pages of documents related to the case of the late US financier Epstein. The documents include email communications allegedly exchanged between then Slovak foreign minister Lajcak and Epstein. According to the released documents, Epstein reportedly sent Lajcak a link in March 2018 to an article from the Daily Beast claiming that then US President Donald Trump was close to a mental breakdown. The former Slovak foreign minister allegedly replied from his official ministerial email that he'd already heard enough about the issue during the day. Epstein also reportedly wrote about Lajcak to former Trump adviser and strategist Steve Bannon in March 2018. In an email, Epstein referred to the Slovak ex-minister in a familiar manner as "Miro" and suggested that he could lead a kind of "European project". mf/df