Slovakia’s Fico dismissing Pegasus purchase allegations raises eyebrows

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has denied allegations that his government purchased the notorious Pegasus spyware, but an expert interviewed by Euractiv Slovakia has serious doubts about Fico’s claims.

Last week, Slovak newspaper Denník N reported that the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) had acquired the controversial Pegasus spyware.

This Israeli system, which can monitor technological devices and listen through their microphones, has already been used to spy on several pro-democracy leaders and journalists in other countries, including Orbán's Hungary and PiS-ruled Poland.

Several government members have since denied the allegations, with Fico himself labelling them “nonsensical” on Monday evening.

“There is no Pegasus, quite the contrary. When it comes to this 'worm,' we need to pass legislation to prevent it because such a system would be a privacy violation if it were (in use here),” the prime minister said.

One of the four security sources who confirmed the information to Denník N said the spying system had switched from the test phase to full operation in September.

However, according to Fico, the SIS and several ministries are already preparing legal measures to prevent a similar system from being acquired in Slovakia.

Opposition expert doubts Fico’s words  

Juraj Krúpa, a defence and security expert from the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, argues that he and the media have received consistent information about the Pegasus acquisition from several independent sources.

Krúpa has had reliable information on the Slovak security community for years. He has worked for the Defence Ministry and the Permanent Delegation of the Slovak Republic to NATO and is a former chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Security.

“The fact that Fico's government might have such software has sparked interest from several foreign institutions and media. Fico's government does not have their trust, and there are concerns that this software could be misused against journalists and opposition politicians,” Krúpa told Euractiv Slovakia.

He, therefore, doubts that Fico would confirm such information, and it is only natural for him to deny it. As for the aforementioned legislative changes, the opposition expert doubts that they will help.

“Instead of introducing functional mechanisms for the effective oversight of intelligence services, the ruling coalition wants to introduce a law that bans Pegasus. But there are other systems with similar capabilities,” the opposition expert noted.

The parliamentary committee overseeing the SIS is currently without a chairperson. The ruling coalition sacked former justice minister and current opposition MP Mária Kolíková (SaS) in June, and the post has remained vacant since.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)