PM’s close colleagues to undergo security clearance

People working with Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini at the Government Office should undergo a security clearance, as PM announced that he wants to take this precaution on Saturday for public broadcaster RTVS. Pellegrini will also look at whether and how his predecessor, Robert Fico (Smer-SD), was informed about the fact that persons with potential ties to the Italian Mafia were working in his vicinity. And also whether these people really posed a security risk. As the murdered journalist Ján Kuciak drew attention to this in an article he didn't have time to complete, Mária Trošková, who served as the chief state advisor at the Government Office, and Viliam Jasaň, the former head of the Government Office's crisis management and state security, allegedly had in the past connection to persons with ties to the Italian Mafia. Pellegrini stated that if he himself was given information from intelligence services that he had such a person in his vicinity, this person would end in the Government Office. The prime minister also said he would ask for a review of people working close to him.