President Andrej Kiska met with Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini on Monday in the Presidential Palace, commenting on the current political situation and suspicions that the Slovak government plane was used to kidnap a Vietnamese citizen.

“As a president, I repeatedly asked - last week - for the Slovak authorities to act and honestly investigate these suspicions. 

People in Slovakia are entitled to learn the truth from Slovak investigators. The alibis and the circumvention of the German authorities have been enough. The case occurred on the territory of the Slovak Republic, a Slovak government aircraft was used, the suspects are former representatives of the Slovak state power. The Slovak Republic and its institutions should put the situation in order. If someone prevents this, it is necessary to adopt personnel measures and remove obstacles in the way of an honest investigation into the suspicion of participating in an international kidnapping. 

In relation to this I told the Prime Minister, Mr Pellegrini, that I have lost my confidence as the President of the Slovak Republic in Minister of the Interior Mrs. Saková. I do not hide the fact of her nomination as a missed opportunity to show people that the new government is willing to change its style of governance. 

Unfortunately, this fear has been fulfilled. The minister is acting as though she is the right hand of the former Interior Minister. The current stances of the Interior ministry under her leadership on suspicions of abuse of state power have so far appeared as an ill-concealed attempt to hide all traces and protect the former leadership. I am beginning to consider Mrs. Saková as an obstacle to honestly explaining what has happened. And I said to the Prime Minister, if the government wants to convince our citizens of a real interest in resolving the case honestly and truthfully, if the government truly wants to start the process of restoring people’s trust in the state, the Interior ministry is the key. Days before I heard a statement that this case is supposed to be an attack on Slovakia and its good reputation. 

What is an actual attack on Slovakia is the abuse of state power in such an outrageous manner, as the investigation by the German authorities into the abduction of a Vietnamese citizen suggests. The attack on Slovakia is an effort to conceal the traces of a crime and to abuse power in the march to justice. The attack on Slovakia is the international hatred and disruption of trust in relations between our country and Germany. 

Today, a joint meeting with the three highest constitutional actors will take place at the invitation of the Attorney General.

I will attend this meeting with a single request. People in Slovakia deserve clear and honest answers. Not to return to the age of Mečiarism when the state authorities abducted people and then covered up the crime. 

Thus as the Head of State, I will ask for persuasive measures and signs that the law enforcement authorities are investigating the case with full seriousness. With such a commitment, how serious is the suspicion of abuse of state power in an international kidnapping?”