Fico: Kiska Was Puppet President Who Cheated His Way into Office

Bratislava, October 31 (TASR) - Slovakia had a president in 2014-19 who cheated his way into his post partly by committing a serious tax crime, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) declared in response to the fact that Presov Region Court found ex-president Andrej Kiska guilty of tax fraud on Thursday. In Fico's view, the fact that a former head of state was convicted creates an extremely negative image for Slovakia. "What is serious about Andrej Kiska's tax fraud is that he committed it willfully as part of his presidential election campaign, which harmed and put at a disadvantage all other candidates who were running for the presidential office in 2014," underlined the prime minister. Fico called Kiska as well as his successor Zuzana Caputova (2019-2024) "artificial products of anti-Slovak forces", created with an eye towards "installing in the Presidential Palace persons who would carry out the policy of only one mandatory opinion coming from the West". Fico called on the public not to vote for such candidates in the future. "Slovakia needs sovereign, educated and patriotic presidents, not puppets of the likes of Kiska and Caputova." Earlier in the day, Presov Region Court found Kiska guilty of tax fraud and handed down a suspended sentence of one year with two years of probation. The verdict is final and cannot be appealed against. The case revolves around Kiska's 2013-14 presidential campaign costs, which Kiska put on the books of his company KTAG. The firm subsequently filed an illicit claim for a VAT refund, thus causing the state financial damages of €155,184. Kiska rejected the allegations. mf/df