Slovakia summons Russian embassy official over interference in parliamentary elections
Oct 02, 2023
Bratislava [Slovakia], October 3 : Slovakia has accused Moscow of interfering in its parliamentary elections and has summoned a Russian embassy official to protest against statements made by Sergey Naryshkin, the director of Moscow's foreign intelligence service, Al Jazeera reported.
Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on Monday said that it summoned a Russian embassy representative who spoke about “interference” by the United States in the country, an accusation the ministry called false.
Slovakia said the comments were made on the eve of the Slovak parliamentary elections on Saturday when a moratorium on information that may benefit or harm candidates was in place.
The ministry said: “The department of diplomacy strongly protests against the false statement of Russian intelligence which cast doubt on the integrity of the free and democratic election in Slovakia.”
“We consider such deliberate spread of disinformation to be unacceptable interference by the Russian Federation in the election process.”
The ministry called on Russia to cease all disinformation activities aimed at Slovakia. The Russian embassy in Slovakia, however, rejected the allegations.
The Russian embassy said on Facebook: “Unlike some of Slovakia’s current allies, we do not interfere with internal affairs of other countries, we do not take part in regime changes and various ‘colour’ revolutions.”
Slovakia’s president on Monday asked the leader of the winning party to try to form a coalition government.
Populist former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his leftist Smer, or Direction, party captured 22.9 per cent of the vote on Saturday. It will have 42 seats in the 150-seat parliament.
If he succeeds in forming a coalition government, Fico, 59, will become prime minister for the fourth time. Fico campaigned on a pro-Russian and anti-American message, has pledged to end Slovak military support for Ukraine and opposes sanctions on Russia, as per Al Jazeera.
In a televised address to the nation on Monday, President Zuzana Caputova stressed that the new government would have to be “a government which will serve all citizens”.
Fico has repeatedly attacked the liberal president, accusing her of being an American agent and serving foreign interests. Caputova has sued him for the remarks.
