President: Situation in Slovakia Serious, Gov't to Prepare Measures

Bratislava, January 23 (TASR) - The situation in Slovakia is serious, showing signs of a targeted organised escalation in tension with the aim of fuelling expressions of dissent going beyond the limits of peaceful protests and continuing with further activities aimed at applying pressure, President Peter Pellegrini told the media following a Security Council meeting on Thursday. Pellegrini said that if he hadn't considered the situation to be serious, he wouldn't have convened the Security Council meeting. According to Pellegrini, there's a structure of people, organisations and financial flows behind the organisation of protests that confirms that they are not spontaneous activities, but concern a targeted and controlled group of people. They have demonstrated efforts to escalate the atmosphere in society, increase tension and attack Slovakia's constitutional order in some way, he stated. "I've been in politics for a long time, and I don't usually panic, simplify or exaggerate things in any way. However, the information provided by the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) made it necessary to hold a Security Council meeting in this expanded format," said the head of state. He supported claims that people who are not of Slovak origin are operating in Slovakia and that they also operate in other countries, where they participate in organising protest rallies. The president said that the government has been tasked by the Security Council with preparing for its next meeting draft measures aimed at stabilising the situation in Slovakia in connection with the SIS report. He doesn't expect a state of emergency to be declared due to the security situation in Slovakia for the time being. The president stated that Slovakia must remain a democratic country in which the rule applies that power comes from the people and the people express this in democratic elections. "No country can tolerate findings that someone is trying to change the balance of power in the country other than through democratic elections," he said. According to him, no country can tolerate findings that a group of people is operating on its territory whose goal is to prematurely and forcibly overthrow the current government and provoke a political crisis. According to the president, the report and information from SIS didn't come from open sources. It's information that the security forces obtain by using legitimate and lawful means. "It's the duty of all security forces to protect the constitutional order of the Slovak Republic," he stressed. At the same time, he declared that he fully supports people's right to peaceful demonstrations. Pellegrini also called on people not to let themselves be misused and be provoked at the protests. No one is going to imprison people or forbid them from participating in protests, he claimed. Pellegrini also informed the media that everyone who attended the Security Council meeting confirmed Slovakia's foreign-political orientation based on EU and NATO membership. ko/df