Estok: Officers Held Responsible for Response to Assassination Attempt on PM

Bratislava, October 29 (TASR) - Two police officers and one member of the Office for Protection of State Representatives have been held responsible for the response to the assassination attempt on Premier Robert Fico in May, said Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) at a session of the House defence and security committee on Tuesday. Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Juraj Krupa stated in this vein that the leadership of the Interior Ministry is contradicting itself, as the minister claims that there were consequences for the security forces' response to the assassination but at the same time denies that there was any major failure. "So, everything was all right, even if some failed. We explicitly find ourselves in a world created by the Smer party, which is simply unable to admit its own mistakes," remarked Krupa. The minister explained that between 2020 and 2023 no exercises were held for members of the Office for Protection of State Representatives. Sutaj Estok at the same time added that an armed man tried to join state celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Dukla Pass on Monday. Head of the Office for the Protection of State Representatives Pavol Krejci told the committee that the man claimed that he had brought the weapon by mistake, explaining that he normally carries the weapon legally and didn't realise that he couldn't enter the celebration area with it. Sutaj Estok stated that the man was a former supporter of the Smer-SD party, but has become radicalised. zel/df