Slovakia detains two over alleged hybrid attacks on infrastructure

The head of the Slovakian Intelligence Services has announced the arrest of a Ukrainian citizen and a Slovakian-Hungarian dual national for allegedly planning attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure.

During a press briefing, services chief Pavol Gašpar and the Slovakian interior minister Matus Sutaj Estok, said that the two arrested were part of a larger international group who are being investigated in collaboration with intelligence services of other countries.

Gašpar declined to give any more information on those detained, but said the authorities have “documented, at least at the intelligence level, long-term coordinated activity by a certain group of people” who had the potential to “impact the security of Slovakia”.

He added that the intelligence services had identified one person accused of making bomb threats in both Slovakia and Czechia.

The two countries have seen a flurry of bomb threats against schools, courts and other public buildings in recent months, prompting panic and evacuations.

Earlier this month, the head of the Czech secret service, Michal Koudelka, blamed Russia for such threats, alleging they were part of a coordinated effort involving Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

“There is clearly a visible Russian trace,” Koudelka said of the threats.

Gašpar declined to endorse Koudelka’s comments, however, instead saying that blaming either Russian or Ukrainian actors was more politically motivated than fact-based.

He added that the security risk of this “hybrid warfare” was low, but that offenders were still being prosecuted.

Attacks in Europe spark fears of Russian involvement

Last week, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius declared the severing of a communication cable between Germany and Finland an act of “sabotage”, and implied that “hybrid actors” were behind the attack.

There have also been several arson attacks across the EU in recent months and an uptick in cyber attacksin the bloc. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied responsibility for such incidents, but on Thursday, NATO’s senior expert on cyber and hybrid threats attributedsuch attacks directly to Russia, saying they are part of a general uptick of cyber and other interference in Europe.

Gašpar stopped short of blaming Russia, saying that the Slovakian authorities had information they could not “communicate to the public at this stage”.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has raised concern in Brussels and other European capitals with his efforts to improve relations with Russia.

On Tuesday, he said in a post on Facebook that he had accepted an official invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend Second World War commemorations in Moscow.

Fico has halted the dispatch of Slovakian military supplies to Ukraine, and has said he will block Ukraine’s incipient NATO bid as long as he remains prime minister.

Earlier this year, Slovakian media reported Fico was filing a criminal complaint against the previous government for donating fighter jets to Ukraine.