President Zuzana Čaputová met with the representatives of the State Institute for Drug Control on April 12. (source: SITA)
President Zuzana Čaputová has expressed her support for the Slovak scientists and scientific institutions that have tested the Sputnik V vaccine.
She was also critical of the recent statements of Finance Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) against the State Institute for Drug Control (ŠÚKL) and the Biomedical Research Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (BMC SAV) responsible for testing the vaccine, calling them inadequate and wrong. Such attacks only harm the trust of people in them, she added.
“Part of a strong democracy is strong and independent professional institutions,” she said after her April 12 visit to the ŠÚKL and the BMC SAV.
In the meantime, the president has asked Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO nominee) to let her see the contract so she knows more about the details.
Trust in Slovak institutions
Čaputová reiterated that she does not want Sputnik V and its use in the vaccination process to be used to divide Slovakia.
She said that all the tests carried out so far have confirmed the benefits of the vaccine. This is why we should trust Slovak scientific institutions.
“I support the Slovak scientific institutions and respect their work,” the president continued, adding that she has been in close contact with many scientists involved in the fight against the pandemic during the past year.
Commenting on the tests that should be carried out in Hungary, Čaputová said that she still does not know very much and that she will be asking about it at meetings with Lengvarský and PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO).
If the tests will be the same as the ones carried out by the ŠÚKL and the BMC SAV, she is ready to ask why they are being performed in the Hungarian labs and what benefit it would bring.
Critical of personal attacks
The president was also critical of personal attacks and threats to people representing scientific institutions.
ŠÚKL head Zuzana Baťová has lately received several such threats, particularly after being openly criticised by Matovič. The threats were published by her husband, former advisor to ex-president Andrej Kiska, Rado Baťo, on both Twitter and Facebook.
The threats are now being investigated by the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Omediach.com website reported.
