'Slovakia': Kalinak Lied about No Need to Declare Villa in Croatia

Bratislava, March 21 (TASR) - Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) is lying when he says that he didn't have to declare a villa in Croatia as his property after acquiring it in 2018, representatives of the opposition 'Slovakia' party told a press conference on Friday. 'Slovakia' stated that Kalinak's wife acquired the villa on March 22, 2018, according to a statement from the Croatian land registry, but he didn't include it in his property declaration in 2019 even though he was obliged to do so by law because he was both a minister and an MP in 2018. "He didn't hesitate to misuse his two young children in order to hide behind them, and secondly, he knowingly deceived the whole of Slovakia when he tried to create the impression that he was actually obliged to file a declaration of assets only sometime around now, in 2023, when Robert Kalinak became an MP," said party leader Igor Matovic. Head of the 'Slovakia'-'For the People'-KU parliamentary caucus Michal Sipos said that the party has collected 25 MPs' signatures for a motion to dismiss the defence minister, reiterating that some MPs from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and Progressive Slovakia (PS) have promised additional signatures. The Christian Democrats (KDH) have already signed the motion. The party is preparing another motion for the House committee for incompatibility of posts over Kalinak's failure to mention the property in his declaration. Robert Kalinak admitted that he didn't include the house in Croatia in his property declaration, defending himself by stating that he was protecting the privacy of his young children. am/df