Minister of Education and temporarily appointed Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and the Knowledge Economy Tomáš Drucker (Hlas-SD) assures that the changes surrounding the Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers (ÚOO) do not mean its abolition or a threat to its agenda. He stated this in the Sunday discussion show Politika 24 on Joj 24.
“I reject the scaremongering that this is some disruption of the office. This is a merger of two offices and the agenda to protect whistleblowers will be maintained,” Drucker said. In connection with the recovery plan, he also denied that changing the office to another could jeopardize the withdrawal of money from the recovery plan.
He does not even perceive that Slovakia would be threatened with sanctions or suspension of payments. “Questions came from the European Commission, which we answered. What interests everyone is whether the cases that are alive, open, will have continuity, whether this office will continue, or the agenda,” said Drucker.
He also reminded that on Friday (November 28) they submitted their seventh request for payment from the recovery plan. He claims that without the work of former Deputy Prime Minister Petr Kmec (Hlas-SD) and his team, Slovakia would not have submitted the sixth or seventh payment. He praised Kmeca for doing “a good job”for example also in communication with the European Commission.
According to the authorized head of the office of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic for the recovery plan, Slovakia is currently threatened with fines for the digitization of processes for which the Department of Investments is responsible. “At the moment, this is probably the biggest risk that the milestone might not be met, and we face fines for that,” he pointed out. He also sees risks in meeting deadlines, for example when handing over buildings.
He explained that the first steps in the audit of calls for subsidies have already taken place, including the review of evaluators. He emphasized that all projects are checked and in case of doubt he will act. “I will have no regard for anyone or anything but the public interest,” he declared.
In the discussion, they also touched on the current situation in the coalition. “Recently, I feel like we’ve been more into rifts,” thinks Drucker. According to him, topics are being opened up that do not improve the life of people in Slovakia in any way. He repeated that The voice wants to preserve the stability of the governmenthowever, insists on compliance with the coalition agreement and the “same measure” in deriving political responsibility.
However, he would consider it a shame if the Minister of Transport Jozef Ráž (nominee of Smer-SD) left his position. “It’s exactly the same pity why Peter Kmec had to leave. But it’s the Prime Minister who decided to use a different meter (…). I don’t know if it was due to pressure from people or circumstances, he acted in short order,” he stated.
Regarding the question of the future of MP Ján Ferenčák (Hlas-SD), Drucker stated that his a possible departure from the head of the committee for European affairs should not be a reason for his departure from the club. He noted that such steps would be contrary to the values that Hlas stands for. At the same time, he admitted that if Ferenčák had the ambition to work in the Smer-SD party, the coalition should resolve the situation “without behind-the-scenes games”.
