Photo: EPA
Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar is facing political scrutiny after a car accident involving a longtime friend who reportedly has connections to a former Slovenian intelligence officer who fled to Russia, TVP World reports.
Pirc Musar has denied any links to Russian intelligence. However, Slovenia’s parliamentary security committee has requested an urgent briefing from the country’s intelligence agency, SOVA, over the reported connections.
The committee has invited SOVA representatives to a meeting next week. Meanwhile, opposition lawmaker Žan Mahnič of the center-right Slovenian Democratic Party has called on the government to stop providing the president with intelligence and security reports, citing concerns that she could be connected to a Russian espionage network.
“We categorically deny that the president is cooperating with Russian intelligence networks,” Pirc Musar’s office said.
Friend’s links to former intelligence officer
The scrutiny intensified after reports about Pirc Musar’s longtime friend Viktorija Krivolutskaya, a Slovenian citizen of Russian origin.
Pirc Musar was hospitalized in late July with a broken collarbone after a road accident. Krivolutskaya was reportedly also travelling in the president’s official vehicle at the time.
Local media subsequently reported that Krivolutskaya had close ties to Roman Jeglič, a former Slovenian intelligence officer who became involved in a major scandal and fled to Russia in the mid-1990s.
Krivolutskaya later confirmed that she had been romantically involved with Jeglič and had lived with him in Russia for several years. She said, however, that she had had no contact with him for more than 15 years.
