Slovak police tried to arrest former defense minister Jaroslav Nad for donating aid to Ukraine in a case that accused him of being politically motivated.
Slovak media said police went to their home Wednesday morning, but the former minister was not there. He later said he was on vacation abroad and was proud of his actions.
Police said the lawsuit was launched by the European prosecutor’s office in Bratislava, but eight people were detained on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged misuse of 7.4 million euros (£6.3 million) of funds.
But it also exposes Slovakia’s political rift over the war in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Robert Fiko’s current defense minister of populist and nationalist government has accused Jaroslavia Nad of treason for giving fighter jets to Ukraine.
And Wednesday’s police operation was revealed the day after FICO came up with the idea of Slovakian neutrality, a member of NATO since 2004.
On the second day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ministry of Defense under the previous government of Slovak has ordered the immediate purchase of 12,000 rounds of 120mm mortar ammunition from the state-run defense company Konstrukta.
The state had previously sold out outdated ammunition to constructors, but according to Denick n’s newspaper, it bought back more than it sold.
Slovakia’s Supreme Audit Office (NKU) flags the buyback as legally and financially irregular.
In the statement, the European Prosecutor’s Office said it suspected that the process to purchase Ukrainian military aid was “equipped and the ammunition could have been expensive.”
Of the eight people who said it was taken into custody, four officials from the Ministry of Defense.
However, Jaroslav Nad, who currently leads the Demokrati Party, which has no seats in parliament, says the entire incident is being built based on the fact that the previous government came to aid in Ukraine.
“The ruling coalition needs to show their promise – that I will be going to prison for this aid,” he told the BBC from the Calgary city of Canada.
“It is a purely political process, indicating the pro-Russian direction of the Slovak government in the Russian and Belarusian style and the emerging dictatorship.”
A senior minister of the FICO government, who has come to power on a promise to halt military aid to Ukraine, has denied allegations of political interference.
Defense Minister Robert Karinak told reporters that the criminal case was launched based on a report from the Audit Bureau and is now independent and continues under the European Prosecutor’s Office.
The former minister vowed to fully cooperate with the investigation into his return to Bratislava.
Robert Fico is famous for promising Ukraine “not to send another round of ammunition” shortly before winning the parliamentary elections in September 2023.
During his visit to the Ministry of Economy on Tuesday, he said: “I feel that things are changing in the world… in these absurd re-burn times, arms companies rub their hands like neutrality is very suitable for Slovakia, just as the pharmaceutical companies did during Covid.”
Previous Slovak government provided Ukraine with not only munitions but interspace missile batteries from the S-300 and a fleet of 13 decommissioned MIG-29 fighter jets.
However, while the FICO government quickly halted the supply of surplus stock in the Slovak Army to Kiev, Slovak commercial military companies continue to play a key role in providing ammunition and heavy weapons to Ukraine.
