On Thursday, police detained seven individuals with suspected ties to the Italian underworld in Eastern Slovakia. The raids are related to the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kušnírová, according to Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar. Antonino Vadala, who was mentioned in Kuciak's last article published posthumously, and a few of his relatives are among those arrested. After being investigated in Italy for alleged connections to the Mafia, Vadala opened several businesses in Slovakia dealing with agriculture, real estate and energy systems, according to Kuciak's report. He has had business links to two of Prime Minister's Robert Fico's advisors, Mária Trošková and Viliam Jasaň. Both temporarily stepped down from their positions on Wednesday.
In a previous interview to the press, Vadala denied any connection to the Mafia. On Friday, the Italian press agency ANSA reported that the chief prosecutor of the Calabria region had previously officially warned the Slovak police about the activity of people linked to 'Ndrangheta in Eastern Slovakia. The information provided by the Italian side to the Slovak police referred to three of those arrested on Thursday. Later on Friday Slovak police chief Tibor Gaspar denied that the Italian side offered information on some of these people as early as 2014.
Meanwhile, the Slovak General Prosecutor's office analysed Kuciak's last article and found 73 cases of a criminal nature whose investigation will be checked. The office also replied that Trebišov-based prosecutor František Bicko, whose son has business links to Vadala, worked on only one of these cases. His work will also be checked.
The allocation of agricultural subsidies from the European Union in Slovakia which is also the topic of Kuciak's last article has been accompanied by shortcomings in the past, according to the Slovak Supreme Audit Office. Kuciak wrote that Italian mafia-related firms in Eastern Slovakia received millions of euro in subsidies by abusing the system. Following a control last year on the activity of the Slovak Agricultural Paying Agency (PPA), which pays farmers direct payments or subsidies from European funds, the Supreme Audit Office drew attention to shortcomings in the operation of this state institution. For example, it has identified subjectively set criteria for assessing grant applications or missing control mechanisms. The European Commission has announced it will also look into allegations that funds for agriculture in eastern Slovakia were misused by companies with links to the Italian mafia. The Ministry of Agriculture stated that it was fully cooperating with the investigators and it would not make any further comments on this topic for the time being.
