BRATISLAVA, August 10, (WEBNOVINY) — Defense Minister Lubomir Galko is convinced that he personally did nothing wrong in the connection with Milan Hudec, who as the newly appointed head of the Military Intelligence Service has a problem regarding inconsistencies in his security clearance. “I think that I have not failed at all,” Galko stated after the session of the Parliamentary Committee overseeing the Military Intelligence Services. The committee devoted attention to the security clearance of Milan Hudec, whose problem is that some documents may have been issued before they were requested. The session ended by the opposition’s minority losing to the coalition majority, according to the committee chairman Peter Ziga (opposition SMER-SD). “The minister did not explain his actions; he said he would not submit anything to the committee, and thus the resolution features only that ‘we acknowledge this’ and within three months he would inform the committee on the findings of the commission established to investigate whether appointing the head of the service was in line with the law or not,” said Ziga who added that the party’s chairman Robert Fico plans to hold a news conference regarding the situation in the near future.
Minister Galko said that he felt very good about the committee’s meeting and thought that it was absolutely correct, “we were smiling at each other”, and the matter has proceeded forward. He concluded that the session was in line with his expectations as an exemplary meeting.\
The Defense Ministry is looking into the possibility that the mistake upon conducting the security clearance of the new head of the Military Intelligence Service Milan Hudec was a deliberate attempt to damage the interests of the ministry or the minister himself. “I, being the Defense Minister, only sign documents which professional personnel prepare; and whether, in the case of Mr. Hudec, the extent and contents of the documents corresponded with the legal norm is a matter of investigation,” Galko said before the session of the Parliamentary Committee.
According to the minister, Hudec has a valid clearance issued by the National Security Office to handle materials of the highest confidentiality. Hudec was temporarily suspended from the post within the Military Intelligence Service after the problem was detected.
SITA