Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Peter Kmec Dismissed Amid Subsidy Concerns
Bratislava, Slovakia – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has proposed the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Peter Kmec following questions surrounding the distribution of government subsidies, officials announced Friday. Kmec subsequently offered and Fico accepted his resignation, though the public proclamation was delayed until Saturday.
Kmec, a member of the board responsible for distributing the subsidies, faced scrutiny after reports surfaced alleging irregularities in the allocation of funds. According to newspaper Sme, one recipient of subsidies was a company with ties to Peter Pellegrini, advisor to the Slovak president and founder of the Hlas party. Pellegrini resigned as Hlas chairman prior to assuming the presidency last year.
Portal aktuality.sk reported that some companies receiving subsidies did not have registered development activities.The program came under further inquiry after Matúš Šutaj Eštok, current chairman of Hlas and Minister of the Interior, instructed Kmec to suspend the program and conduct a review on Thursday.Prior to the suspension, Kmec’s office had already signed 13 contracts totaling €65 million (1.57 billion crowns).
Šutaj Eštok stated on Facebook that Kmec offered his resignation, which was accepted, and that Hlas acted independently of the Prime Minister’s office. The Slovak constitution requires a member of the government to submit their resignation to the head of state.
The opposition party Svoboda a Solidarita characterized Fico’s proposal as evidence of corruption within the Hlas party. The Christian Democrats welcomed the Prime minister’s move but criticized Fico for consistently shifting responsibility onto others.
