Slovak Opposition Demands Security Council Meeting Over GRU Claims

Slovak opposition parties on September 26 demanded that Prime Minister Robert Fico convene the Security Council of the Slovak Republic after German media reported that a group linked to Russian military intelligence, the GRU, may have operated from Slovakia and planned a thwarted arson attack on the Skyeton drone plant near Prešov.²⁴

Opposition pressure

Opposition parties and movements told TASR they were seeking an explanation from the government over reports by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which cited security-service sources describing a group connected to the GRU that allegedly operated from Slovakia and planned the attack on the Skyeton drone factory near Prešov.²

Tomáš Valášek of Progressive Slovakia (PS) said it was unacceptable that information about a possible Russian trace in an attack in Slovakia had emerged this way rather than from the prime minister, and that the Security Council had still not been convened over the case. PS also called on Fico to address the public on the findings and, should the Russian link be confirmed, demanded accountability measures toward Russia, including the expulsion of Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, according to the party.²

The KDH party demanded both a Security Council meeting and an extraordinary session of parliament's SIS oversight committee. Its chairman, František Majerský, said he would request the extraordinary sitting and expected concrete information from SIS leadership. "Vedenie SIS musí vysvetliť, čo o tejto sieti vedelo a aké kroky podniklo," he said.²

KDH's Milan Majerský said state security policy could not be shaped by the government's political sympathies toward particular countries, adding that if allies uncover a foreign power's operations reaching Slovak territory, the government must act professionally and in close cooperation with them.²

Veronika Remišová called on Fico to convene the Security Council immediately, describing the information as extremely serious. According to Remišová, her own government had previously dismantled networks of Russian agents, detained people working for Russian services and expelled unwanted Russian diplomatic staff. She said, "Je znepokojujúce, že vinou zjavnej kolaborantskej politiky Ficovej vlády sa zo Slovenska stáva brloh ruských teroristických a sabotážnych skupín."²

SIS and police response

SIS chief Pavol Gašpar said the attribution of the arson attack thwarted by Slovak security forces had not yet been confirmed, calling the operation one of the most successful counterintelligence actions in the service's history. "Atribúcia podpaľačského útoku, ktorý bol úspešne zmarený činnosťou našich bezpečnostných zložiek a je jednou z najúspešnejších kontrašpionážnych operácií SIS v jej histórii, nie je doposiaľ potvrdená," he said, adding that German security and investigative authorities had also not confirmed the information.²

Gašpar said the public would be informed to the extent possible once attribution was confirmed or a false-flag version could be ruled out, and he urged opposition politicians and the media to exercise restraint in sharing unverified information about the scale of Russian intelligence activity in Slovakia, which he said had been published by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.²

Police spokesman Roman Hájek said the Police Force continuously monitors Slovakia's security situation and cooperates with other security bodies and foreign partners to assess possible threats. He said police treat risks tied to sabotage or arson preparation extremely seriously and have mechanisms in place for an adequate response, adding that further measures would be adopted if necessary.²³

Hájek said all relevant findings and public claims linked to the investigation would be checked under lawful procedures, but that police would not disclose details about their sources or ongoing inquiries, nor comment at this stage on alleged links between specific individuals and foreign intelligence services. "Vzhľadom na aktuálne štádium vyšetrovania nie je možné poskytnúť ďalšie podrobnosti," he said.²³

Within a police operation codenamed Dron, four people were charged with preparing an arson attack on a production plant in Haniska near Prešov, and the investigation continues as police obtain further evidence.²

German connection

According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, two Bulgarian nationals detained after a September 3 arson attack in Munich were part of a group connected to the GRU. German investigators linked the two arrested Bulgarians, a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, to a network tied to Russian military intelligence, according to reporting cited by Formiche. Incendiary devices were reportedly thrown from a car at a construction site in Munich's Berg am Laim district, near the Rohde & Schwarz company.¹²

The Slovak prosecutor's office said three people had planned an arson attack against the Skyeton plant; two suspects, a Latvian and a Ukrainian national, were detained in Slovakia, while a second Latvian was arrested in Hamburg with extradition proceedings under way, according to Formiche.¹

The German federal government has officially attributed an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle airport to Russia, after an explosive-equipped drone configuration was identified near Ukrainian cargo aircraft there, according to Formiche.¹