Storm in Slovenia: The President's car accident and the possible link to Russian intelligence
The President of Slovenia denied any connection to Moscow. Her long-time friend, a Russian native, had traveled with her to the country several times in the past. The parliament demands an investigation into the possibility of Russian interference in the country's security and integrity.
The President of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, is currently at the center of a public and security storm after a car accident in which she was involved exposed her closeness to a Russian citizen suspected of having ties to intelligence agencies in Moscow.
Earlier this week, the parliamentary committee on security affairs, composed of representatives from all parties, requested an urgent discussion on the matter and is expected to ask the Slovenian intelligence agency SOVA for a report regarding the possibility of Russian interference in Slovenia's sovereignty and national security. A day earlier, the President's office was forced to deny, following media reports, any connection to Moscow.
"We strongly deny that the President cooperates with Russian intelligence networks," the statement said.
The affair began after Pirc Musar was hospitalized in July following a broken collarbone sustained in a car accident. According to her office, there were also "two passengers who are friends of the President" in the official vehicle at the time.
Local media outlets subsequently revealed that one of the passengers was Victoria Krivolutskaya, a long-time friend of the President, who was born in Russia and received Slovenian citizenship in 2016. According to those reports, the two traveled together to Russia several times in the past, before Pirc Musar was elected to the presidency in 2022.
"I lived for years in Russia"
On Monday, the Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik and the Austrian news agency APA published an investigation according to which Krivolutskaya was closely linked to Roman Jaglic, who was a senior official in the Slovenian intelligence services, was dismissed, and fled to Russia in the 90s. In a statement provided by Krivolutskaya to the POP television channel, she confirmed that she lived for "years" with Jaglic in Russia after he left Slovenia. However, according to her, she has had no contact with him for the last 15 years.
The Slovenian Democratic Party, which is in opposition, called on the government to revoke Pirc Musar's access to intelligence reports, suggesting that the President herself might be linked to Russian intelligence services. The President's office rejected the claims and denied any connection between Krivolutskaya and Russian intelligence, arguing that such ties would have prevented Krivolutskaya from receiving Slovenian citizenship.
Pirc Musar was elected to the presidency in 2022 as an independent candidate. She is generally considered a liberal and pro-European president who supports human rights, transparency, and the rule of law. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she has condemned the Kremlin's military attack several times.
Earlier this year, after the Prime Minister of Slovenia ordered the Palestinian flag to be removed from the government building, the President of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, ordered it to be placed in front of the Presidential Palace in Ljubljana:
"The genocide of Palestinians has not stopped, and the people in Gaza and the West Bank are not living in peace and dignity. The flag is a symbol of gross violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, not only in Palestine but also in other places around the world."
