The opposition KDH and the Slovak Movement criticize Slovak President Petr Pellegrini, who, according to Denník N, was supposed to arrange a foreign trip to Moscow in 2020 as prime minister by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó. The head of state told TASR that in 2020 he participated in a standard meeting and will not be involved in any way in the pre-election campaign in Hungary and related activities.
- The opposition parties KDH and Hnutie Slovensko strongly criticize President Pellegrini.
- Péter Szijjártó was supposed to arrange Pellegrini’s trip to Moscow.
- Hungary should have asked Moscow for help for Pellegrini’s electoral success.
- Grendel and Mikulec talk about the unprecedented humiliation and security risk of the state.
- President Pellegrini claims that it was just a standard negotiation on energy.
According to the information of Denník N should Szijjártó, at the request of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, explain to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that it is “crucially important” for Hungary to continue the coalition of that time in Slovakia, and that welcoming Pellegrini in Moscow would “help him a lot to win the election.”
The member of the Slovak National Council for the Slovak Movement Gábor Grendel considers this a serious failure of diplomacy and an undignified act. “It is an unprecedented humiliation for Slovakia. It has never happened in history that a Slovak prime minister had to arrange a meeting in Moscow through a foreign government,” he stated. Former Minister of the Interior and Member of Parliament for the Slovak Movement Roman Mikulec described the findings as extremely serious from the point of view of state security. At the same time, it demands an explanation of all new findings regarding the “questionable practices” of President Pellegrini before the 2020 elections.
KDH considers the published information about how Peter Pellegrini was supposed to ask Moscow for help before the 2020 elections to be an unprecedented scandal. It pointed out that while the government scares the public with imaginary foreign agents, its main representatives are actually quietly begging foreign powers to interfere in the Slovak elections in order to stay in power. “Today we completely understand why this government is making policies that suit Orbán and Putin more than the citizens of Slovakia. They are paying off old debts from campaigns and creating space for further favors in the future.” stated the leader of the movement, Milan Majerský.
The Office of the President of the Slovak Republic told TASR that the head of state will in no way be involved in the pre-election campaign in Hungary and related activities. “In 2020, as the Prime Minister at the time, he participated in standard political negotiations with the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation on the topic of Slovakia’s energy security,” they stated.
