Slovak police chief agrees to resign

Tibor Gaspar, the Slovak national police chef, has agreed to resign and will vacate the office by the end of May, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said, as Euronews reports.

Gaspar is forced to step down under public pressure connected with the investigation of the famous journalist Jan Kuciak recent murder, after which the country is being shaken by mass protests participants of which also demand resignation of the special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik, fearing that otherwise the investigation of the crime will not be carried out properly. In addition, the protesters urge to hold new elections.

As EADaily reported earlier, on April 16, Slovak Interior Minister Tomáš Drucker announced his resignation and said he was leaving politics. The reason for the move was the inability to calm down the situation in society arisen after the murder of Kuciak. At the same time, Drucker said he decided not to call for resignation of Tibor Gaspar, the police head.

To remind, the political crisis engulfing Slovakia began with the February 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, who investigated widespread government corruption. In recent months, Interior Ministers Robert Kalinjak and Tomas Drucker, Secretary of the Slovakia Security Council, Viliam Jasan, Adviser to the Prime Minister Maria Troskova, Culture Minister Marek Mad’aric, Head of the Prime Minister's Office Roman Šipoš, Prime Minister Robert Fico, resigned one after the other.

On April 15, tens of thousands of Slovaks took to the streets of Bratislava demanding the police head resignation and a more forceful fight against corruption.