Page 12 - bne_newspaper_March_9_2018

Central Europe
March 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
that Italian officials didn’t co-operate with Slova- kian counterparts and that the information they gave was very limited.
On March 7, President Kiska said that members of the government had information about the Italian mafia from the secret service, but they ignored it. “People have the right to demand an explanation, why the members of government ignored for years a warning from our own secret service. Yes, this is true – the director of Slovak Information Service
Row over Communist committee chair threatens formation of Czech government
bne IntelliNews
A row between Ano, the party of populist billion- aire Andrej Babis, and the hardline Communists (KSCM) could threaten the formation of a new Czech government.
Babis, currently the acting prime minister, hopes to form either a majority government with the support of the Social Democrats (CSSD) and the toleration of the KSCM, or a minority government backed
by the two parties in parliament. However, after the forced resignation of deputy Zdenek Ondracek (KSCM) from the post of head of the committee for the General Inspection of Security Forces (GIBS), the Communists say they may refuse to support Babis' attempt to form a government.
Ondracek was proposed by the Communists to lead the parliamentary committee, which over- sees investigations into members of the security forces, including the police. After several incon- clusive votes, Babis' Ano party finally supported his election on March 2, which was widely seen as a bribe for the Communists to win their support
informed me, that he warned over the long period the government members about activities of the Italian mafia in Eastern Slovakia,” Kiska said.
“A lot of people in Slovakia are concerned with the direction in our country and waiting for the answers from the political representatives on the most fundamental questions. They are waiting for the answers today, not in one month, not in one year. People have the right to an open and honest answer,” the president said.
for forming a government.
However, the Communists have never fully apolo- gised for crimes committed under their 40-year rule and remain hostile to Nato and ambivalent about the EU. Ondracek himself was a member
of the hated National Security Corps (SNB) police force during Communism and is well-known in Czechia for commanding a unit that beat protest- ers during the 1989 demonstrations that eventually brought down the regime. On March 3, Ondracek said that he was just following orders. “In my pro- fessional decisions, I regret nothing,” he added.
Ondracek's election brought around 25,000 people into the symbolic Wenceslas Square, site of the most famous pro-democracy demonstrations, and thousands of people gathered in other Czech cit- ies to protest.
The demonstration pushed Babis to declare that he would support a vote to recall Ondracek, and the Communist deputy finally resigned on March 6, saying that he was stepping down because of threats to his family.
The chairman of KSCM, Vojtech Filip, has at- tacked Ano for being untrustworthy. “There is no clear decision, whether or not we will be tolerat- ing an Ano government. Not even under the cir- cumstances of programme concurrence. And not because of the programme, but because of the credibility of the partner,” Filip said.