Slovak police detain eight in probe into military aid to Ukraine

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(Reuters) -Slovak police have detained eight people, including defence ministry officials, in an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office into possible misuse of funds for military aid to Ukraine, the office said on Wednesday.

Police confirmed earlier on Wednesday they were carrying out seizure operations in an EPPO prosecution, after media outlets reported authorities sought to detain a former defence minister who is out of the country on vacation.

The EPPO, an independent body of the European Union, said four of those detained were officials at the defence ministry and that the value of the misused funds was 7.4 million euros ($8.51 million).

It said it suspected top-ranking personnel of violating budgetary rules “by giving unjustified orders to purchase ammunition from two private companies,” at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“EPPO suspects that the public procurement procedure was rigged and that the ammunition may have been overpriced,” it said.

The defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

News website Dennik N said earlier that police had wanted to detain former defence minister Jaroslav Nad, a member of the previous government. He denied allegations of wrongdoing related to Ukraine aid and wrote on Facebook on Wednesday how he was proud of assisting the country.

Nad, calling the police action “theatre”, said he was on vacation in Canada and due to return at the end of the month.

Slovakia’s leftist-nationalist government under Prime Minister Robert Fico has taken sharp policy turns since taking power in 2023, including stopping military aid to Ukraine and seeking better ties with Russia, which supplies it with oil and gas.

Opposition officials and activists have been highly critical of the new policies, while the government has accused the previous administration of treason and other offences in its donations to Ukraine.

A report from the Supreme Audit Office last year said errors related to budgetary rules were made in purchasing ammunition for Ukraine and it had handed findings to police.

Fico has been critical of the European Union’s Ukraine policy, saying weapons supplies prolong the war.

On Tuesday, he criticised NATO plans to ramp up spending in the coming years and for the first time questioned Slovakia’s place in the military alliance by saying neutrality would benefit the country.

($1 = 0.8693 euros)

(Reporting by Jason Hovet and Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Toby Chopra, Alexandra Hudson)