Jakab Says Lajcak Shouldn't Be Fico's Adviser, Supports SNS in Its Call

Bratislava, 16 November (TASR) - MP Julius Jakab ('Slovakia'-'For the People' caucus) agrees with the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) which has called on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to end his cooperation with his adviser and former minister of foreign affairs (2012-20) Miroslav Lajcak over his communication with late US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Jakab described the communication between Lajcak and a man convicted of sexual crimes as a huge security problem. "This is a huge security problem for Slovakia when its foreign minister, now Robert Fico's adviser, is exchanging messages with a person who was clearly convicted of sexual crimes at that time, calling him a friend and addressing each other by their first names," he said, adding that "this is absolutely unacceptable". According to him, the scandal would suffice as grounds for removing Lajcak from the advisory team, but also for the fall of the government that is covering up the issue. SNS called on Fico to end cooperation with Lajcak over his communication with Epstein. 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. Lajcak told TASR on Friday that he engaged with Epstein in the past only in social communication as part of his diplomatic duties, noting that the opening of Epstein's case by the US justice system concerning the abuse of minors took place only after Lajcak's departure from New York in 2018. He also strongly condemned Epstein's actions, which, he pointed out, only came to light in their entirety after the financier's arrest. jrg