Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted a resolution on the protection of investigative journalists in Europe today, in response to the murder of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová. 573 out of 647 MEPs backed, 27 MEPs voted against the resolution, and 47 MEPs abstained from voting.

The report was prepared after the European Parliament six-member delegation’s visit to Slovakia. The delegation consisted of the members of a wide range of political platforms and visited Slovakia on 8-9 March.

The resolution is non-binding but critical of Slovakia.

The findings of the MEPs do not portray Slovakia in a positive light. There is a risk of conflicts of interest between the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Interior and the chief of police. The selection of prosecutors is highly politicised, allegations of corruption against officials are not properly investigated, and there is no independent body to review complaints against the police. The freedom of the press is also under threat. The local press is being funded, and are owned, by municipalities, while larger publishers are concentrated in the hands of a few. In both cases, they are exposed to potential political pressure.

Furthermore, the resolution on Slovakia refers to corruption cases relating to the award of Union grants, abuses of power, and conflicts of interest which undermine democracy.

‘There is no mafia in eastern Slovakia because there is nothing out there.’

Although the resolution is non-binding, it highlights many problems encountered in recent months, which have been brought to light after the murder of Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. In the resolution, the MEPs call for the investigation of the corruption cases uncovered by the journalist. However, they pointed out that the Slovak authorities should have dealt with these cases, regardless of the call from the MEPs.

The resolution is largely based on the report that was drafted by the MEPs after visiting Slovakia due to the murder of the journalist and his fiancée. The phrase stating that ‘there is no mafia in eastern Slovakia because there is nothing out there’, made by Robert Fico, former prime minister, comes from that very report.

‘Slovakia has fallen so low.’

Smer belongs to the Socialist Group in the European Parliament; the European People’s Party formulated the critical parts. Pál Csáky, SMK-MKP (Party of the Hungarian Community) MEP, said: ‘Slovakia has fallen so low in recent weeks. When encountering my colleagues, all of them are asking how this could happen, what is going on in Slovakia.’

‘I, personally, am very pleased that a special committee is dealing with the cases of tax fraud exposed by Ján Kuciak’, said Ivan Štefanec, KDH (Christian Democratic Movement) MEP. According to him, it would also be important for the European institutions to found an award named after and in honour of Ján Kuciak and Daphne Caruana Galizi, Maltese journalist murdered last year.

Pan-European issues, no consensus

‘All the problems that have been brought to light concern the whole of Europe’, stated Boris Zala who had suspended his membership in Smer after criticising the party. ‘Organised crime, money laundering, and corruption are problems which should be addressed at European level’, he said. Ján Kuciak was about to publish an article uncovering the possible ties of Slovak entrepreneurs to the Italian mafia. ‘Measures should be taken to monitor every movement of organised crime groups and then to place them under the control of state institutions’, Mr. Zala said.

Nevertheless, the European Parliament lacks an integrated approach on whether a European Public Prosecutor’s Office should be established and what powers should be granted to the body. The call therefore is just a concept that is currently another cause of dispute.

(sme.sk, TASR, felvidek.ma)