Member of the European Parliament Zdechovský presented a critical report from the monitoring mission in Slovakia

Brussels/Bratislava – On Tuesday morning, two reports on Slovakia were presented in the European Parliament (EP). In the EP Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), a report from the parliamentary delegation that examined the state of the rule of law in Slovakia was presented, and in the EP Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT), a report focused on the monitoring of EU fund utilization in Slovakia was delivered. Both reports were critical, reports the TASR correspondent.

Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský (KDU-ČSL), a member of the CONT Committee, confirmed to TASR that he presented the final report from the mission that took place at the end of May in Slovakia. The aim of the delegation he led was to assess the protection of the EU’s financial interests and the overall state of the rule of law and the functioning of control institutions.

Zdechovský stated that many MEPs were already familiar with the situation, as the report had also been presented at other meetings. According to him, the majority of the European Parliament politically agrees with the findings of the report, and there is also consensus that another meeting regarding the situation in Slovakia will take place in the fall.

The MEP confirmed that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), based on a map of reports compiled by his office after the mission in Slovakia, have begun investigating several cases of possible misuse of EU funds, and they have obtained new witnesses and information related to older cases.

Many reports fit into the mosaic that the European prosecutor and OLAF already had.

“We will be informed of the outcome, but only at the end of the investigation. Many reports fit into the mosaic that the European prosecutor and OLAF already had,” he explained. He added that on Tuesday morning he received several SMS messages from Slovakia, from people at the Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) or the Ministry of Agriculture, asking when the situation would start to be addressed, as the monitoring of EU fund utilization is currently “partially paralyzed.”

“We encountered not only administrative failures but also a politically hostile environment towards any form of control, civil society, and the media,” Zdechovský’s report states. It considers the weakening of the rule of law to be a key finding, as the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office and the National Criminal Agency led to a dramatic drop in the number of indictments for serious economic crimes (only two were filed in 2025, compared to earlier figures of 120 – 150 per year).

The report also criticizes the hostile environment towards civil society and the media, as non-governmental organizations face administrative harassment, discrediting campaigns, restrictions on access to information, and investigative journalists report intimidation when verifying facts about the misuse of EU funds, for example, for the construction of pensions funded by the EU.

According to Zdechovský, there has also been a failure of the PPA, as the agency does not utilize the ARACHNE system recommended by the European Commission to detect fraud, controls are either non-functional or missing, leading to the misuse of subsidies. In the CONT Committee, he stated that the delegation he led became the target of unprecedented pressure, and he himself was forced to accept police protection.

The report also contains positive points, such as the fact that the implementation of the recovery plan milestones is proceeding according to plan or that the Ministry of Investments has demonstrated expertise and willingness to cooperate. (July 15)