Russia tried to influence Slovak elections, says ex-minister

Intelligence services uncovered a Russian attempt to rig upcoming parliamentary elections in Slovakia in favour of the Smer party, claimed former defence minister Jaroslav Naď in a TV interview.

Naď said that Russia paid Slovak citizens to manipulate elections in favour of the Smer party as a Smer win could shift policy in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s favour.

“We have received intelligence information from abroad, including the exact person, time and place, where a citizen of the Slovak Republic was in Russia to receive financial resources in favour of the political party Smer-SD to manipulate the election,” Naď said in an interview.

Top constitutional officers in Slovakia were to be briefed on the information, which was also allegedly forwarded to the police.

Robert Kaliňák, a member of Smer’s presidency, retorted that the party never accepted “external money” and called the allegation “unbelievable gibberish”. Smer is currently leading polls with calls to stop weapon supplies to Ukraine.

Naď did not provide additional details, including how the Russian manipulation was supposed to occur. Last year, Slovakia expelled Russian diplomats for paying Slovak citizens to spy on its behalf.

Speaker of the Parliament, Boris Kollár, refused to comment. “I will certainly not inform the public or the media about this information. They are classified information,” he told Denník N.

Slovakia is currently under a technocratic government following a scandal connected to EU money with a snap election due on 30 September.

Slovakia’s foreign policy could shift significantly after a Smer win. The Smer government voted in favour of EU sanctions on Russia in 2014, but its leader Robert Fico called them “senseless” the same year. He also asked them to be dropped after a 2016 meeting with Putin.

Fico’s party faces calls for expulsion from its Party of European Socialists for likening NATO soldiers to the Nazi army and blaming the Russian invasion on the USA.

A new poll shows that 34% of Slovaks think the war was caused by “West provoking Russia”, almost double Hungary’s 19%. In Poland, only 4% of people share the view.

(Barbara Zmušková | EURACTIV.sk)