Defence Minister Martin Glváč is ready to declassify leaked documents that detail alleged tunnelling at the Military Intelligence Service (VSS) between 2006 and 2010, after he consults with the head of the National Security Bureau (NBÚ) Jozef Magala and Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik, the TASR newswire wrote on Wednesday, May 29.
"We've so far had a telephone conversation. I would certainly not like to interfere in the investigation,” said Glváč, speaking after attending a session of the parliamentary defence and security committee. “I'll proceed according to the law, in order not to cause further irreversible damage.”
Chairman of the committee Jaroslav Baška (Smer) also announced that the body acknowledged a report presented at the session by Glváč on the affair, and asked the minister to cooperate as closely as possible with the investigators.
A 134-page report published by the Sme daily alleged large-scale embezzlement of public funds by employees at the VSS under the first Fico government (2006-10); Sme says it received the document anonymously, and that it is probably based on an internal investigation into the VSS that started under Ľubomír Galko, who was defence minister in 2010-11.
The report includes information about the purchase and reconstruction of an expensive residential property in Bratislava, which the state later sold at a loss to a former VSS officer. Both of the then heads of the two military intelligence agencies – Juraj Šebo of the VSS and Ľubomír Skuhra of the Military Defence Intelligence (VOS) counter-intelligence agency – allegedly knew about the transactions. The VSS and VOS have since been merged into a single agency, Military Intelligence (VS), now led by Skuhra. Minister Glváč claimed there was no embezzlement. Earlier in the week, he was asked by President Ivan Gašparovič to investigate the case.
(Source: TASR, Sme)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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