Monitor: Dubeci Wants SIS Statutes Declassified, Kalinak Has No Problem With It

(TA3, 'V politike', March 10) Speaking on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday, Progressive Slovakia (PS) caucus chair Martin Dubeci called on the Government to declassify parts of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) new statutes, with Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD), also on the show, responding that this shouldn't be problematic as long as legal procedures are met. According to Kalinak, it's not up to SIS deputy director Pavol Gaspar to give consent with the declassification of the SIS statutes. "Once something is classified as confidential, the consent must come from the person who produced that document," said the minister. Dubeci levelled criticism at Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar's (Smer-SD) recent meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. "We served as a tool of propaganda [for Russia]," he underlined. Kalinak disagreed, pointing out to double standards. "If this same thing were done by someone from the West or our political opponent, everything would be okay then," the minister claimed and added that Slovakia has lent its support at the EU level for military aid for Ukraine. Kalinak confirmed that any potential participation of Slovak soldiers in Ukraine would have to be greenlighted by the Slovak Government and Parliament first, and reiterated his disapproval of any potential involvement of soldiers from any NATO state in the conflict in Ukraine. Kalinak also talked about the unused potential of young Ukraine draft dodgers. In this context, Dubeci emphasized the need to keep Ukraine supplied with ammunition. "Peace will come only once the Russian Federation realizes that it won't meet its goals on battlefield," he said. mf