Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has called on Prosecutor-General Maroš Žilinka to resign from his post, and wants to create pressure through evidence and arguments that would force Žilinka to consider whether it is appropriate for him to remain at the head of the prosecution service.
Fico claims that developments within the prosecution service are influenced by the fact that Žilinka is a nominee of the current opposition.
The Smer-SD party considers Žilinka an obstacle to restoring public trust in the rule of law. "Žilinka should resign from his post because of failures and his inability to fulfil the duties of prosecutor-general. By remaining in office, he will create the conditions for the preparation and approval of a comprehensive reform of the prosecution service," Fico said, adding that Smer is aware that the law does not allow it to initiate Žilinka 's removal.
Žilinka responded by saying that he intends to remain in his position until the end of his term.
Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is mistaken, Žilinka said, in claiming that Žilinka is an obstacle to restoring trust in the rule of law. The chief prosecutor added that he has faced a long-standing effort to seize control of the Prosecutor General's Office and its bodies.
"Today we witnessed completely shameless pressure and a call for the prosecutor-general to resign from those who have a vested interest in how certain criminal cases are handled, and who have a particular idea how justice should be administered, an idea with which I will never identify," Žilinka said.
Fico said that during Žilinka 's tenure as prosecutor-general in the period of 2020 to 2023, when, according to Fico, human rights were being trampled on and criminal law was being misused against representatives of Smer and people close to the party [who faced criminal prosecutions over corruption-ed.note], Žilinka neither condemned nor commented on the failures of the then-governing coalition and law enforcement authorities. By comparison, Fico noted that Žilinka currently publishes critical positions on "two traffic cameras in trial operation". "Quite simply, we in Smer believe that the prosecutor-general's entire tenure since taking office has been markedly opposition-oriented," the prime minister stated.
According to Fico, his "patience has run out" in the case of former Slovak Intelligence Service director Vladimir Pčolinský. "Žilinka tolerates prosecutors such as Mr. (Peter) Kysel and (Daniel) Lipšic at the Office of the Prosecutor-General who not only failed in the Pčolinský case, but knowingly violated every law that existed," he said.
The prime minister also claims that Žilinka is going beyond what is necessary in prosecuting people nominated by Smer to important positions and their relatives, as well as putting pressure on subordinate prosecutors. He pointed out that Žilinka had refused to release prosecutors from the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Žilinka from their duty of confidentiality after they spoke about pressure from the leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor-General.
Fico also sees the prosecutor-general and his office as failing in investigations and prosecutions concerning the donation of military material to Ukraine and fraud involving the financing of mobile testing sites.
Žilinkasaid he has not attacked the prime minister, any politician or the current coalition, but has always responded to their attacks with facts and statistical data. "I have always tried, and have always approached the exercise of my office, in an apolitical and impartial manner, in accordance with the Constitution and the law. I have never allowed myself to be influenced by politicians' interests," the head of the prosecution service said.
The prime minister referred to several specific cases and spoke of an opposition-style approach and the prosecutor-general's overactivity. Žilinka rejected the statements. "It is simply an approach that you, Prime Minister, some politicians and some voters do not like. It does not correspond to your ideas, nor to the political promises you made during election campaigns," he noted. Žilinka added that he will never fulfil their expectations and promises if they are not in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Slovak Republic.
The opposition KDH urged Fico to refrain from calling on the Prosecutor-General to resign, KDH vice-chair Viliam Karas declared, adding that it's necessary to respect institutions.
Karas also noted that it was mainly the current opposition that had criticised prosecution decisions in the past.
Karas also pointed out that Žilinka had been elected prosecutor-general not only by MPs from the then-governing coalition, but also by members of the then-opposition, including MPs from parties that are now part of the governing coalition. "I'd like to remind Robert Fico that Maros Žilinka became prosecutor-general with votes from his own lawmakers. He was supported in Parliament by 132 MPs, and I remind you once again that this was a much larger majority than the constitutional majority. The prosecutor-general therefore had a high degree of legitimacy," Karas noted.
SaS also rejected Fico's call for to resign, as it believes that Fico's demand once again shows that the prime minister wants to control the country's security forces and secure political influence over who will and will not face criminal prosecution.
"Fico wants to take control of the Prosecutor-General's Office. It's not enough for him to have the Bodor family in the police or young Pavol Gaspar as director of the Slovak Information Service. He wants to control all the security forces to ensure impunity from prosecution for his cronies and friends," SaS chair Branislav Groehling stated. He acknowledged that SaS has reservations about the prosecutor-general, but said that an election of the next prosecutor-general should take place only after the parliamentary election in 2027 and that the prosecutor-general should be elected by the new parliament.
Representatives Progressive Slovakia criticised Fico's call for Žilinka to resign, saying that Fico is seeking to influence criminal proceedings involving Smer-SD representatives and people close to them by putting pressure on Žilinka.
PS leader Michal Šimečka claimed that the prime minister is frustrated that the Prosecutor-General's Office is not "doing Smer's bidding". "It does not confirm the myth that Robert Fico has built up over the years and peddles constantly, namely the myth that political persecutions targeting Smer representatives took place in Slovakia between 2020 and 2023," Šimečka said.
He noted that Žilinka has criticised criminal policy and legislation being passed by Parliament. "The prosecutor-general criticises the fact that following the adoption of the amendment to the Criminal Code, corruption has effectively stopped being prosecuted, tax evasion is increasing and these matters are simply not being prosecuted. And it is his duty to draw attention to this. And this is clearly troubling Smer and obviously does not sit well with them," Šimečka claimed. He expressed confidence that Smer won't prevail in this "power struggle" and that independent institutions protecting the rule of law will withstand the pressure.
Source: TASR
