Audit Office: No criminal offences at Foreign Affairs Ministry

The Supreme Audit Office (NKU) found nothing that might lead to the suspicion of a criminal offence during an inspection of the events linked to the Slovak presidency of the Council of the EU at the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry, its chairman Karol Mitrik stated on Monday. However, the office did find a number of errors that could have been avoided, thereby making preparations for the presidency more transparent. For example, it found that invoices for individual contracts did not always properly follow the requirements. "It turns out that the law on accounting was violated," said Mitrik. Basic financial checks at the ministry appeared to be carried out at a purely formal level. "Therefore, if basic financial checks at the ministry had been working 100 percent, such documents would not have entered the accountancy process," he said. The Office has only completed one part of the inspection into the Slovak presidency, namely at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Checks are still taking place at the Environment Ministry. The audit office recommends that the Foreign Affairs Ministry take several measures. For example, it should make sure that addenda to contracts always contain detailed price specifications for goods and services. The Ministry has not commented the report so far. Transparency International Slovakia, which together with two former Ministry's employees brought the accusations of corruption that led to the audit, has reacted by saying it will wait for the complete report to be released.