Premier Fico Accuses Georgian Legion of Involvement in Slovak Protests

Bratislava, January 31 (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has accused the Georgian National Legion and its leader Mamuk Mamulashvili of involvement in public protests in Slovakia. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Fico averred that representatives of the political opposition as well as apolitical organisers of public protests from the Peace for Ukraine association have connections to the Georgian Legion. [The Georgian Legion is a military unit mainly made up of volunteers from Georgia who have been fighting on the side of Ukraine in its war with Russia. - ed. note] The Slovak Prime Minister claimed that the Georgian National Legion is controlled by Ukrainian counter-intelligence and added that Mamulashivili is one of the individuals that Slovakia has put on its blacklist, banning his entry to the country. Last week, the Slovak Security Council discussed a report by the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) that contained information about an alleged effort to destabilise Slovakia. The Council recommended that the government should approve preventive measures to counter the threat of a potential coup. President Peter Pellegrini, the leadership of Parliament and Prime Minister Robert Fico all called the situation serious, whereas the opposition spoke about its concerns that the coalition was misusing SIS for political purposes. mf/df