SIS Director: Odor Did Not Receive Migrant Intel in the Way He Claimed

Bratislava, 29 April (TASR) – The Slovak Information Service (SIS) did not provide Ludovit Odor, when he was prime minister in 2023, with information on the transporting of migrants to the extent he later presented to the public, SIS director Pavol Gaspar told reporters on Wednesday after a special emergency session of the parliamentary committee overseeing the agency. Gaspar claimed that Odor was lying. The opposition had requested that former SIS chief Michal Alac and his then deputy Tomas Rulisek be summoned to the committee, but they were not invited. "The Slovak Information Service keeps very thorough records of intelligence provided, especially to statutory recipients. In the relevant period, when Ludovit Odor was prime minister, he did not receive such information; he uses the words hint or indication, which the law does not recognise. The Slovak Information Service never provided him with information to the extent he presented to the public," Gaspar declared, adding that Odor was lying when he claimed to have had SIS information. According to Gaspar, statutory recipients at the time, including Odor, were warned about a security risk and received proposals for measures to halt the migration wave. "These included both physical border protection, which Slovakia as the only country did not adopt at the time – the Austrians and Czechs did – as well as changes to the legislative framework, because Slovakia was a transit country precisely due to granting these migrants permission to stay on the territory of the Slovak Republic, which they then used for movement within the Schengen area," he added. With respect to the number of migrants in 2023, he said this "involved smugglers who had less than ten months remaining of their sentences". Committee vice-chair Peter Suca (Smer-SD), who is currently leading it, described the agenda of the session as nonsense. He added that if Odor had information about organised transporting of migrants, he would have used it in a campaign against Smer-SD. According to Suca, Alac and Rulisek could not be invited because they would have had to be released from confidentiality obligations in order to speak. Wednesday's session was initiated by committee member Zuzana Stevulova (Progressive Slovakia) due to suspicions that in the summer of 2023 there may have been attempts to influence Slovak elections by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban in favour of Smer-SD and its leader Robert Fico. She said she did not understand why the coalition refused to hear from Alac and Rulisek. "As a committee, we have the right to invite them and ask questions," she said. The committee also received information that the caretaker government at the time had obtained seven so-called intelligence reports from the SIS and MPs can review them. However, at the special session Stevulova wanted to obtain comprehensive information, including what information the government had received orally. She said the session revolved around speculation concerning Odor, who was not invited either. The suspicion that around 2,200 migrants were transported from Hungary to the Slovak border ahead of the 2023 parliamentary elections was raised shortly after the Hungarian elections by their winner and incoming prime minister Peter Magyar. He said that, unlike incumbent prime minister Viktor Orban, he will not "release 2,200 legally convicted migrant smugglers from Hungarian prisons". He also stated that "we will not bring migrants to the Slovak border to serve the interests of our "Social Democrat pal" in an election campaign". Odor subsequently confirmed that he had received indications from the SIS that the arrival of migrants could have had a political background, and he stands by his statement. "In the caretaker government, we acted in accordance with the law, responsibly and solely with regard to the best interests of Slovakia," Odor said on social media last week. He also said the migration wave "miraculously" subsided after the signing of the coalition agreement in autumn 2023. mf