KDH Sees No Reason to Put 'State of Alert' into Legislation

Bratislava, 11 March (TASR) - The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) currently sees no justified reason to introduce a new legal institution referred to as a 'state of alert', as proposed by President Peter Pellegrini and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), TASR learnt from KDH's press department on Wednesday. KDH considers the proposal to be unnecessary, noting that the state already has sufficient tools to respond to terrorism. The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) also has questions about the need for the proposed legislative change but says that it's ready to assess the proposal constructively. KDH pointed out that the Slovak armed forces already have sufficient and clear legal tools to intervene in the event of serious security threats, including in the fight against terrorism. According to the party, the government is therefore already able to act fully in crises. Because of this, arguments are lacking to explain why new legislation is needed beyond the laws already in force, and KDH sees the proposal rather as a reason for concern due to an excessive concentration of power in a single ministry. "Our legislation already explicitly allows the use of the army and even military weapons in the event of terrorist attacks or other serious threats. The government has existing tools at its disposal, especially the state of emergency and other extraordinary regimes. We therefore view these latest efforts with great concern," said KDH vice-chair Viliam Karas. The party said that it's ready to discuss proposals aimed at ensuring security in a constructive way, but only if they are supported by clear and factual arguments. It rejects what it sees as an unjustified expansion of extraordinary state powers without a real social or security need. PS also said it wants to ask about the reasons for the proposed legislative change, and it's declared its willingness to assess the proposal constructively. "We'll want to see whether and where the current legislation is insufficient and what possible undesirable consequences the proposed changes might have," wrote PS vice-chair Tomas Valasek on social media. He added that his party would approach such proposals strictly and cautiously, while recalling how the armed forces were misused under communism to suppress democracy and citizens' rights. The president, the defence minister and Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, Daniel Zmeko, have agreed that Slovakia needs to introduce the legal instrument of a 'state of alert', which would allow the government to use the capacities of the armed forces even in peacetime if the country were threatened by any circumstance. The president also noted that such a change would require an amendment to the Slovak Constitution, meaning agreement across the political spectrum. mf/df