RUSSIAN secret service (FSB) chief Nikolai Patrushev said that at a recent conference in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, NGOs from Belarus plotted to overthrow Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, the daily SME reported.
The Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported that Patrushev had told Russian MPs of the plot.
Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) spokesman Vladimír Šimko said that the SIS had no such information while Slovak diplomats would not comment on the issue at all.
"Some information suggests that more than $5 million (€125,000) has been earmarked for the financing of future elections in Belarus," said Patrushev.
Slovak PM Mikuláš Dzurinda announced in March that the Slovak cabinet supported Slovak NGOs with $82,000 (€21,000) worth of grants for Belarus projects.
Pavol Demeš, the head of the US foundation German Marshall Fund in Bratislava said that if Patrushev really said this officially, Slovakia should "consider sending a demarche to Moscow".
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
The
Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
