Due to terrorism threat, protection of critical infrastructure will be strengthened. Traces also lead to Ukrainians
16. marca 2025
The Minister of the Interior pointed to terrorist attacks on key infrastructure that have occurred in Western Europe.
The Security Council of the Slovak Republic has agreed to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure in Slovakia. The Minister of the Interior, Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas), announced this after its meeting. He pointed to terrorist attacks on key infrastructure that have occurred in Western Europe.
The Director of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Pavol Gašpar, confirmed that the threat is related to the detention of a Ukrainian citizen in Michalovce. On Tuesday, the police detained a person who was fleeing in a motor vehicle. According to information from TV Markíza portal, officers blocked the man's path at one of the roundabouts in the city center.
The specialized Office for Combating Organized Crime (ÚBOK) also participated in the operation. Special forces searched the suspect's car directly on the road for almost two hours.
The man ended up with head injuries and was taken into custody. Various objects found in the car were secured at the scene. Subsequently, a raid was also carried out at a cottage in the village of Vínne. The detained Ukrainian was said to have been renting it. According to neighbors, he had been living there for about two years with his wife and two children.
They talk about a wider group
This foreign national, together with another detained Ukrainian, was allegedly part of a wider group that was conducting intelligence activities in our country related to critical infrastructure.
"We have documented, at least at the intelligence level, long-term coordinated activity of a certain group of people, which shows signs of sophisticated intelligence activity and relates to and has a potential impact on the security of the Slovak Republic," stated Gašpar. It is a group that is said to include a Slovak with Hungarian citizenship.
According to Gašpar, state authorities have very specific knowledge in this matter, but he did not specify them in more detail due to the possible obstruction of the investigation.
Closer to the bomb threat reporter
According to the Minister of the Interior, SIS is also moving towards identifying the potential perpetrator of hybrid attacks and threats of bomb attacks on schools or public buildings.
In the case of bomb threats, Slovakia is the only country that, according to the SIS chief, has identified a potential perpetrator. The information service is also communicating with foreign partners on this matter.
"Specific actions are taking place there. I will be glad when we can present more details in the near future. The level of security risk posed by these means of waging hybrid warfare is low," he explained.
Gašpar claims that at the level of the national security analytical center, a methodology for the procedure of individual security forces has been developed. The methodology should be approved in a short time and also submitted to the government meeting.
"It will be followed in similar cases if they occur in the future," noted the SIS chief. He declares that they do not underestimate the threats and the measures taken by the security forces are above standard.
Hollý, Ladislav. "Due to Terrorism Threat, They Will Strengthen Protection of Critical Infrastructure. Traces Also Lead to Ukrainians." Štandard, November 28, 2024. https://standard.sk/828833/pre-hrozbu-terorizmu-posilnia-ochranu-kritickej-infrastruktury-stopy-vedu-aj-k-ukrajincom. Accessed: 16. 3. 2025
The Director of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Pavol Gašpar, confirmed that the threat is related to the detention of a Ukrainian citizen in Michalovce. On Tuesday, the police detained a person who was fleeing in a motor vehicle. According to information from TV Markíza portal, officers blocked the man's path at one of the roundabouts in the city center.
The specialized Office for Combating Organized Crime (ÚBOK) also participated in the operation. Special forces searched the suspect's car directly on the road for almost two hours.
The man ended up with head injuries and was taken into custody. Various objects found in the car were secured at the scene. Subsequently, a raid was also carried out at a cottage in the village of Vínne. The detained Ukrainian was said to have been renting it. According to neighbors, he had been living there for about two years with his wife and two children.
They talk about a wider group
This foreign national, together with another detained Ukrainian, was allegedly part of a wider group that was conducting intelligence activities in our country related to critical infrastructure.
"We have documented, at least at the intelligence level, long-term coordinated activity of a certain group of people, which shows signs of sophisticated intelligence activity and relates to and has a potential impact on the security of the Slovak Republic," stated Gašpar. It is a group that is said to include a Slovak with Hungarian citizenship.
According to Gašpar, state authorities have very specific knowledge in this matter, but he did not specify them in more detail due to the possible obstruction of the investigation.
Closer to the bomb threat reporter
According to the Minister of the Interior, SIS is also moving towards identifying the potential perpetrator of hybrid attacks and threats of bomb attacks on schools or public buildings.
In the case of bomb threats, Slovakia is the only country that, according to the SIS chief, has identified a potential perpetrator. The information service is also communicating with foreign partners on this matter.
"Specific actions are taking place there. I will be glad when we can present more details in the near future. The level of security risk posed by these means of waging hybrid warfare is low," he explained.
Gašpar claims that at the level of the national security analytical center, a methodology for the procedure of individual security forces has been developed. The methodology should be approved in a short time and also submitted to the government meeting.
"It will be followed in similar cases if they occur in the future," noted the SIS chief. He declares that they do not underestimate the threats and the measures taken by the security forces are above standard.
Hollý, Ladislav. "Due to Terrorism Threat, They Will Strengthen Protection of Critical Infrastructure. Traces Also Lead to Ukrainians." Štandard, November 28, 2024. https://standard.sk/828833/pre-hrozbu-terorizmu-posilnia-ochranu-kritickej-infrastruktury-stopy-vedu-aj-k-ukrajincom. Accessed: 16. 3. 2025
Gas as a Test of Slovakia's Resilience: Energy Security Does Not End with the Price of the Commodity
The upcoming heating season is a reminder that security of energy supply is not merely a question of the market. The Echo24 portal has drawn attention to an analysis by Oxford Economics, according to which this may be the European Union's most demanding winter in terms of energy supply since the crisis period of 2021–2022. The reasons cited are a combination of slower filling of storage facilities, geopolitical risks, supply outages, drought affecting electricity generation, and higher demand for gas in the power sector.
Nadchádzajúca vykurovacia sezóna pripomína, že bezpečnosť dodávok energie nie je len otázkou trhu. Portál Echo24 upozornil na analýzu Oxford Economics, podľa ktorej môže byť pre Európsku úniu najnáročnejšou zimou z hľadiska dodávok energie od krízového obdobia rokov 2021 – 2022. Dôvodom má byť kombinácia pomalšieho plnenia zásobníkov, geopolitických rizík, výpadkov dodávok, sucha ovplyvňujúceho výrobu elektriny a vyššieho dopytu po plyne v energetike.
We continue our series dedicated to essential services under Act No. 367/2024 Coll. on critical infrastructure. This time we focus on a service whose importance is growing alongside the transformation of the energy sector – electricity storage.
Pokračujeme v našej sérii venovanej základným službám podľa zákona č. 367/2024 Z. z. o kritickej infraštruktúre. Tentoraz sa zameriavame na službu, ktorej význam rastie spolu s transformáciou energetiky – uskladňovanie elektriny.
Commentary by the Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic Europe is experiencing another wave of extreme heat, which is shifting from an exceptional phenomenon into a new standard. Record temperatures, prolonged drought, and the overheating or decline of watercourses can no longer be viewed solely as an environmental problem. They are increasingly affecting the functioning of the state and threatening the continuity of its basic services.
Komentár Asociácie kritickej infraštruktúry Slovenskej republiky Európa zažíva ďalšiu vlnu extrémnych horúčav, ktoré sa z výnimočného javu menia na nový štandard. Rekordné teploty, dlhotrvajúce sucho a prehrievanie či pokles vodných tokov už nemožno vnímať výlučne ako enviromentálny problém. Čoraz výraznejšie zasahujú do fungovania štátu a ohrozujú kontinuitu jeho základných služieb.
Series: Essential Services of Critical Infrastructure For decades, the electricity system was built on the principle of a few large power plants supplying millions of consumers. Today, however, the energy sector is changing faster than ever before. Thousands of photovoltaic power plants, wind sources, battery storage systems, heat pumps, smart buildings, and charging stations for electric vehicles are entering the grid. Electricity no longer flows in only one direction – from producer to consumer. The modern electricity system is becoming a dynamic ecosystem in which both producers and consumers are active market participants.
Seriál: Základné služby kritickej infraštruktúry Elektrizačná sústava bola desaťročia budovaná na princípe niekoľkých veľkých elektrární zásobujúcich milióny odberateľov. Dnes sa však energetika mení rýchlejšie ako kedykoľvek predtým. Do siete vstupujú tisíce fotovoltických elektrární, veterných zdrojov, batériových úložísk, tepelných čerpadiel, inteligentných budov či nabíjacích staníc pre elektromobily. Elektrina už neprúdi iba jedným smerom – od výrobcu ku spotrebiteľovi. Moderná elektrizačná sústava sa stáva dynamickým ekosystémom, v ktorom sú výrobcovia aj odberatelia zároveň aktívnymi účastníkmi trhu.
Industry is one of the sectors where the importance of critical infrastructure becomes very tangible. Not in abstract definitions, but in the state’s ability to maintain the availability of medicines, the continuity of metallurgical production, supplies of key chemical substances, functioning supply chains, and technological self-sufficiency at times when standard market mechanisms may not be enough.
Priemysel patrí medzi sektory, pri ktorých sa význam kritickej infraštruktúry ukazuje veľmi konkrétne. Nie v abstraktných definíciách, ale v schopnosti štátu udržať dostupnosť liekov, kontinuitu hutníckej výroby, dodávky kľúčových chemických látok, funkčné dodávateľské reťazce a technologickú sebestačnosť v časoch, keď štandardné trhové mechanizmy nemusia stačiť.