SaS Demands Interior Minister's Resignation Over Security System Breakdown (2)

Bratislava, January 20 (TASR) - Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) should take political responsibility for the tragic event that took place at the secondary school in Spisska Stara Ves (Presov region) last week and resign from his post, representatives of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party stated at a press conference on Monday. SaS claims that the resignation of Police Corps President Lubomir Solak isn't enough. According to MP Juraj Krupa (SaS), Slovakia is experiencing a comprehensive failure of security under the leadership of Matus Sutaj Estok. "We can see that the Police Corps is in a truly terrible state and how the governing coalition is acting in terms of foreign policy and security. We're losing trust and reliability in the eyes of our partners and allies not only in Europe but also around the world. We can see that we can no longer rely on our security forces," said Krupa. According to SaS, the public should be informed about exactly how the Spisska Stara Ves District Police Department, whose director was also dismissed after the school attack, failed in connection with the tragedy. "What should have been done differently? What exact information did the police department receive? And what is the interior minister going to do to prevent something like this from happening again?," asked MP Maria Kolikova (SaS). According to Kolikova, Justice Minister Boris Susko (Smer-SD) should clarify the procedures of probation and mediation supervision concerning the offender prior to the attack at the secondary school in Spisska Stara Ves. She also noted that Slovakia has only 88 probation officers overseeing convicted individuals. "Such a person [probation officer] should be in regular contact with the charged individuals, but not only with them. They should communicate with the school the offender was previously attending, the school the offender attended afterwards, and the local police department," said Kolikova, adding that the minister should clarify whether all relevant parties had the necessary information before the attack. In connection with the tragedy, SaS also highlighted the critical shortage of child psychiatrists in Slovakia, of which there are approximately 50. The party also pointed to the lack of child and school psychologists. "We urge the education minister [Tomas Drucker] and the health minister [Kamil Sasko] to state what measures they will take to ensure the mental health of our children is properly addressed," Kolikova added. lin/mcs