European Parliament Renew Europe group strongly rejects political pressure and attacks on independent scientific and state institutions in Slovakia. This is reiterated today by the President of the Renew Europe Group, Dacian Cioloş, and the Vice-President, Michal Šimečka (Progressive Slovakia). The Slovak Institute for Drug Control (ŠÚKL) must be able to act independently according to exclusively scientific criteria. This is a prerequisite for securing the trust of citizens. Threats, intimidation and political pressure on independent scientific institutions are therefore unacceptable.
"Independent scientific and state institutions are at the heart of the proper functioning of democracy and they are key to the functioning of the rule of law and the protection of the security of citizens in EU Member States. It is inconceivable that the top officials and experts of these institutions should face harsh personal attacks by top political leaders in the country for doing their job in an honest and professional manner and not giving in to coercion from the ones who hold power" said Renew Europe President, former European Commissioner and Romanian Prime Minister, Dacian Cioloş.
Michal Šimečka, Vice-President of Renew Europe and Vice-Chairman of the PS, emphasized that spreading hatred against high-ranking government officials and scientists doing their job had no place in a democratic society. "With colleagues, we are deeply concerned about the threats of death and violence faced by ŠÚKL director Dr. Zuzana Baťová and her family after she was repeatedly attacked in the media by the Minister of Finance Igor Matovič. We call on the Minister to stop such behavior immediately, He apologized and let civil servants and scientists work on tasks that try to contribute to the fastest possible improvement of the pandemic situation in Slovakia," concluded the Vice-President of Progressives Michal Šimečka on behalf of Renew Europe.
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