The Prosecutor-General's Office has initiated criminal prosecutions in the case of nine files concerning criminal offences against independent Slovak farmers. Errors have been found in ten files out of the total of 36. According to Prosecutor-General Jaromír Čižnár, this is a fairly large number. One file was examined by the Special Prosecutor's Office.
Čižnár stated that the Agriculture Payment Agency's supervisory system creates an environment for individuals in which they can decide for themselves without anyone's supervision. He added that it was strange that the same people kept appearing in the examined projects. According to the prosecutor-general, these issues aren't only related to eastern Slovakia, but are starting to affect the whole country. "People in these regions don't trust the police officers that were connected to these cases, and I don't blame them," said Čižnár, stressing that if a public prosecutor doesn't notice a police officer's mistake, he's clearly failing to do his duty.
The prosecutor-general added that he wants to speak about the results of investigations into criminal cases concerning self-employed farmers with Agriculture Minister Gabriela Matečná. "The Agricultural Ministry welcomes the resolute steps taken by the prosecutor's office and police and will offer full cooperation as before," reads a statement provided by the Ministry. As it further informed, Matečná will also explain the system of supervision at the Agricultural Payment Agency, which is annually certified, accredited and under the supervision of the European Commission. Slovak Prosecutor-General Jaromír Čižnár, however, finds this supervisory system insufficient.
Gabriela Matečná is a Minister nominated by the coalition Slovak National Party which stated that the dialogue between the Prosecutor-General's Office, police and the minister, is "a prerequisite for rectifying systemic flaws that go back 15 years". In the response to Prosecutor-General press conference, the opposition OĽaNO party leader Veronika Remišová appreciated his admitting to the failures of "his own employees" and called on the police leaders to admit responsibility immediately. At the same time she added that the Slovak National Party is losing its hold on its ministries. "There's great suspicion of corruption in all three ministries led by this party [agriculture, education and defence], and it's obvious that it isn't able to govern the country," she said.
