IF AN AMENDMENT to the country's classified information law is passed in parliament, background checks carried out by the National Security Office (NBÚ) on officials who handle classified information will get tougher.
The amendment includes 53 changes and dramatically cuts the number of officials exempt from the tests. The president, members of cabinet and parliament, constitutional court judges and the ombudsman will all have to be tested under the amendment.
At the moment judges, prosecutors, mayors, and heads of central state administration bodies do not need to be checked.
A Nato mission to Slovakia in late January recommended the changes be approved.
4. Mar 2002 at 0:00 | Compiled from Slovak press reports