President Unsure Whether to Sign Bill Abolishing Whistleblower Office

Bratislava/Lisbon, 27 November (TASR) – The governing coalition can't be certain that President Peter Pellegrini will sign the bill abolishing the Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers (UOO) and creating an Office for the Protection of Victims of Crime and Whistleblowers of Anti-Social Conduct, TASR learnt on Thursday. Speaking at a press conference during his working visit to Portugal, Pellegrini stated that he'll approach the legislation responsibly once it is approved and then decide, while also closely follow the legislative process. "Even today I've failed to understand the urgency of all this. The office is so tiny that if we were talking about fiscal consolidation, it's absolutely just a drop in the ocean in the context of the budget. I think that Slovakia has far more serious problems at the moment than dealing with the Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers," said Pellegrini. He added that he fails to understand, if the government saw a need to change UOO, why the cabinet didn't propose this during its previous two years in office, and why it was necessary to convene a special emergency government session on Saturday (22 November) and push the changes through via fast-tracked proceedings. The president stated that the government must consider Slovakia's interests concerning EU funds as well. mf/df