Fico Criticises President's Veto on UOO, Calls for It to Be Overridden

Bratislava, 11 December (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has criticised President Peter Pellegrini's veto of the law aimed at changing the Whistleblowers Protection Office (UOO) into a new institution, and he's called on the coalition to override it. The premier claimed that for this reason, Smer-SD will have to consider whether to support Pellegrini in the next presidential election. According to him, the president's decision is an expression of no-confidence in Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD), and the head of state has thus sided with the police officers known as the 'Curilla group'. "By his decision, the president has fully supported the illegal activities of law-enforcement bodies between 2020 and 2023, when criminal law was grossly abused against the then opposition. The president has sided with the Curilla group. His decision is a clear expression of no confidence in the Voice-SD chair, Matus Sutaj Estok," the prime minister said. Fico argued that the head of state has provided "no relevant reason" for vetoing the bill, "aside from further damaging his own credibility". He added that several important amendments excluding retroactivity and confirming the independence of the office had been adopted during the approval process. Pellegrini vetoed the bill transforming the UOO into a new authority, citing the absence of grounds for fast-tracked legislative procedure, serious substantive concerns about insufficient protection for victims of crime, and unresolved objections from the European Commission that could entail consequences for Slovakia. Parliament approved the legislation, drafted by the Interior Ministry, on Tuesday (9 December). The new authority is to handle not only the whistleblower agenda but also compensation for victims of crime, a responsibility to be transferred from the Justice Ministry. It will also review protections within both criminal and administrative proceedings. mf