Slovakia - August 2023

Police arrested multiple high-ranking officials in the intelligence services on charges of organised crime, abuse of power and obstruction of justice. The directors of the Slovak Information Service and the National Security Authority are among seven people facing charges for alleged interference with the investigation of high-level corruption cases involving government officials. The officials arrested included Tibor Gašpar, who is a candidate in Robert Fico's Smer party in the upcoming elections and served as chief of police under Fico’s regime from 2012-2018. Fico has claimed the arrests represent a police coup, calling the moves political calculations to weaken his party, currently leading in the polls, in the approach to the elections scheduled for 30 September. President Zuzana Čaputová convened the Security Council for an emergency meeting, where she underscored that no coup had been executed by the police, and that Slovak security agencies continued to be operational.

Sources: Politico, SME (1), SME (2), SME (3), SME (4), DW, Balkan Insight, Aktuality, The Slovak Spectator