Bratislava Region Prosecutor's Office: Conclusions on Aid for Ukraine Hold True

Bratislava, 6 February (TASR) - The Bratislava Region Prosecutor's Office insists on the conclusions presented by Bratislava Region Prosecutor Rastislav Remeta on Thursday (5 February) regarding the halting of criminal investigations related to the donation of military equipment to Ukraine, the Regional Prosecutor's Office said on Friday in response to a press conference held by Defence Ministry representatives earlier in the day. The Regional Prosecutor's Office further stated that it respects the announced motion to review decisions by the law-enforcement authorities in cases related to the donation of military equipment to Ukraine. "It's the complainant's right to exhaust all legal means for reviewing the decisions in question," stated Gabriela Kovacova from the Regional Prosecutor's Office. Commenting on claims that Remeta is biased, with Defence Ministry representatives pointing out that in 2020 some MPs of the then-governing OLaNO party proposed him for the post of prosecutor-general, Kovacova said that Remeta merely provided information about the outcomes of individual criminal proceedings on Thursday. "He wasn't the supervising prosecutor in these proceedings, nor did he decide on these cases or interfere in the decision-making process in any way," said Kovacova. The Defence Ministry intends to file a motion to review decisions by the law-enforcement authorities in cases related to the donation of military equipment to Ukraine. According to Defence Ministry State Secretary Igor Melicher, the Regional Prosecutor's Office relied on nonsensical or even contradictory claims. Melicher and other Smer-SD representatives who joined him at the press conference linked Remeta to the opposition. The law-enforcement authorities have dropped three out of four criminal investigations related to the aid given to Ukraine during the previous parliamentary term. By discontinuing criminal investigations or rejecting criminal complaints, they halted cases concerning the donation of MiG-29 fighters and the S-300 air-defence system along with the termination of a contract with a Russian company providing maintenance for the fighters. The police are still investigating the handover of technical documentation to Ukraine's military attache. Former defence minister (2020-23) Jaroslav Nad welcomed the information, while Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated that the prosecution service has entered the political battle on the side of the opposition. jrg/df