Following meetings in Bratislava on 26 September the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has called on the Slovak Republic to fully implement its recommendations to prevent corruption and strengthen integrity within the central government (persons with top executive functions) and the police force.
This high-level visit followed the finding by GRECO in December 2023 that the Slovak Republic had not demonstrated sufficient progress in the implementation of the recommendations addressed to the country under its 5th Evaluation Round, triggering the application of GRECO’s non-compliance procedure. The visit offered an opportunity to discuss the best ways of achieving the legislative and policy changes recommended by GRECO.
The GRECO delegation met with Róbert Fico, Prime Minister, Erik Kaliňák, Chair of the Council of Advisers to the Prime Minister, Andrea Pobocik, Director General, Department of State Security and Prevention of Corruption, Lucia Kurilovská, State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Milan Hodás, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, as well as other senior officials.
The GRECO delegation comprised GRECO’s President, Marin Mrčela, Council of Europe Director of Security, Integrity and Rule of Law, Hanne Juncher; the Heads of Delegation to GRECO of Slovenia, Vita Habjan Barborič, and of the United Kingdom, David Meyer, as well as GRECO Executive Secretary Livia Stoica Becht and Senior Legal Adviser in the GRECO Secretariat Ylli Peco.
The delegation noted the additional information provided during the visit and welcomed the reassurances received of the commitment of the Slovak authorities at the highest level to implement GRECO’s recommendations. However, GRECO regrets that six years after the adoption of its evaluation report on the Slovak Republic, only three out of 21 recommendations have been implemented in full. GRECO strongly encourages the Slovak government to take prompt and effective action to implement the still outstanding recommendations.
GRECO will review the measures taken by the Slovak authorities to implement its 5th Round recommendations and their effectiveness at a Plenary Meeting in 2025, based on information to be provided by the Slovak authorities at the end of 2024.
