Minister of the Interior Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas-SD) paid for his weekend trip to Abu Dhabi with his own money, although negotiations on cooperation were also part of it. The head of the Ministry of the Interior went there at the invitation of the president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) of Mohammed bin Sulayem. The Ministry of the Interior (MV) of the Slovak Republic stated this in response to opposition criticism.
“We appreciate that even the representatives of the opposition noticed that Matúš Šutaj Eštok devotes his free time to work and building relationships that can benefit our country.” said Matej Neumann, the spokesman of the Ministry of the Interior, noting that Slovakia needs friendly relations with all four countries of the world.
At the same time, the minister assured that if necessary, he has no problem paying for a similar private-work trip in the future.
On Monday, for example, she criticized the minister’s trip to Abu Dhabi, for the Formula 1 race non-parliamentary party Democrats. They demand the publication of all invoices and the answer to the question of who each minister met there or why he is misleading the public with pre-recorded videos. At the same time, they consider it cynical when he tells doctors via a social network that they should “moderate”. According to the Democrats, he should immediately leave office.
“At a time when the Police Force is disbanded, the healthcare system is collapsing and threatening emails have been going to schools for a year, it is disgusting that the Minister of the Interior is going on such a trip,” stated the chairman of the Democrats, Jaroslav Naď, who, according to him, would also be interested in who was responsible for the safety and protection of the country’s airspace, since the Minister of Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs, nor the Minister of Economy, the Prime Minister were not in Slovakia on Sunday (December 8) and neither is the president.
The member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Martina Bajo Holečková (not included) did not avoid criticism either. She called on him to explain the “trip”, including its financing at the time of his recall in parliament and the solution to the doctors’ statements.
The chairman of the PS parliamentary club, Martin Dubéci, thinks that Instead of traveling to Abu Dhabi, Šutaj Eštok was supposed to explain the government’s actions regarding the situation in the health sector. “In my opinion, this is an absolute display of disrespect towards the government, its coalition partners, and towards all people who care about the state of healthcare,” he said.
Dubéci reminded that the coalition wants to regulate the lobbying of non-governmental non-profit organizations by law, but her minister went to the F1 race under unclear conditions. According to him, the unconfirmed information that reaches him raises “huge questions”.
