UBOK Requests Evidence against NGOs from Gov't, NGOs Deny Any Wrongdoing (2)

Bratislava, April 15 (TASR) - The Office for Combating Organised Crime (UBOK) has requested evidence from the Government Office regarding alleged suspicions of non-transparent and unlawful handling of European funds by non-governmental organisations The League for Mental Health and The Open Society Foundation, which coalition representatives reported at a press conference on Monday (April 14), TASR learnt from the Government Office on Tuesday. The NGOs in question have denied any wrongdoing. The Government Office stated that The Open Society Foundation was directly allocated nearly €17 million in 2023 "shortly before the early elections". According to MP Richard Gluck (Smer-SD), the Labour Ministry issued a call for projects directly tailored for The Open Society Foundation. "At the press conference, the head of the Government Office, Juraj Gedra, said that 46 percent of the entities that received these funds did not even publish an annual report, making it impossible to verify how the money was used," said the Government Office. Coalition representatives specifically referred to The League for Mental Health, claiming that the organisation was allocated funds "to organise 1,281 sports events, 9,121 support groups and 956 festivals within one year". They claim that €2.2 million was spent on this purpose. The Government Office is currently auditing the project and cooperating with law-enforcement authorities. The Open Society Foundation has responded to the aforementioned statements via social media. "We regret that the Government Office is misleading people and lying about this project. What's even more disappointing is that they've attacked three beneficiaries of funding — The League for Mental Health, The Milan Dubec Foundation and Ukrainska Spilka — all of which have carried out a tremendous amount of work and demonstrated an amazing capacity to help Ukrainian refugees. Thanks to their efforts, Slovakia didn't face a humanitarian crisis after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine," the foundation stated. It also described several of Richard Gluck's claims as lies. The organisation emphasised that the project underwent multiple audits during the disbursement of European funds. Based on the results of the Government Office's audit, it plans to "directly contact the European Court of Auditors and perhaps the OLAF Supervisory Committee as well". The League for Mental Health responded in a similar tone on social media. It stated that all its activities are properly documented, including photos of contracts, accounting records and precise information about project locations. Its employees have valid contracts, and their work is also documented. "It isn't true that the state cannot monitor non-profit organisations. If an NGO uses funds in a different way from what was previously agreed, it commits multiple criminal offences. The state has all the necessary information available through the ITMS system. Anyone who has ever submitted an EU-funded project knows how extreme the level of detail and bureaucracy is," the organisation stated. It added that if coalition representatives lack sufficient information about projects beyond the annual reports, it isn't because the state doesn't have them, "but because they haven’t requested them from the very state they govern". On Monday, government officials defended a proposed bill on non-profit organisations at a press conference, claiming that the new legislation would make NGOs more transparent. mf/df