Dec 9 (Reuters) - Slovakia's parliament gave the final approval on Tuesday to a fast-tracked government plan to dismantle the country's whistleblower protection office and replace it with a new body,
Slovakia's Whistleblower Law Overhaul May Clash with EU
Dec 9 (Reuters) - Slovakia's parliament gave the final approval on Tuesday to a fast-tracked government plan to dismantle the country's whistleblower protection office and replace it with a new body, a move critics say undermines anti-corruption safeguards.
The bill, proposed by Prime Minister Robert Fico's leftist-nationalist government, will abolish the Whistleblower Protection Office (UOO) and cut short its leader's tenure.
Fico's government, in power since 2023, had previously weakened criminal codes for financial crime, revamped the public broadcaster and pushed constitutional changes asserting national sovereignty over some European Union laws, raising criticism of the weakening of the rule of law and international commitments.
The government argues the UOO had been politically abused in the past.
The ruling parties made several changes to the bill after the European Public Prosecutor's Office warned that it would hurt reporting and investigation of corruption.
OPPOSITION SAYS BILL IS REVENGE
The final version would still replace the current UOO leadership and weaken the whistleblowers' position by making their protection subject to repeated re-evaluation, according to Slovak media.
"Everybody sees that this is revenge against an office that dared to responsibly fulfil its duties," opposition party Progressive Slovakia said in a briefing shown on the party's Facebook page as the law was being debated.
The bill came weeks after the UOO fined the Interior Ministry in three cases involving police officers, who were reassigned during corruption investigations without the office's consent.
The government introduced the bill unexpectedly during a rare Saturday cabinet session last month, pushing it through a fast-track legislative procedure.
The European Commission said before the final version of the bill was approved that it was concerned about cancelling the mandate of the current chief of the UOO, as well as other provisions.
The EPPO and European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
President Peter Pellegrini has signalled he would likely veto the law, which would send it back to parliament.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
