With a letter of confirmation from cultural heritage organisation Matica Slovenska, foreigners with no links to Slovakia could obtain Slovak citizenship faster.
Photo: Courtesy of Sme daily
In Serbia, Matica Slovenska, a Slovak cultural heritage organisation, is alleged to have helped foreigners illegally obtain temporary residence in Slovakia or Slovak citizenship in recent years.
The organisation’s local office in the Serbian town of Padina issued fake documents confirming applicants’ bond to Slovakia, even though they had nothing to do with the country, the Sme daily reported. Thanks to the documents, they could have gained the status of a Slovak living abroad.
People with this status can obtain Slovak citizenship faster and it is easier for them to gain employment in Slovakia.
The local N1 television network reported on the fraud the past weekend, claiming that it had obtained official emails exchanged between Matica Slovenska in Serbia and the Office for Slovaks Living Abroad. Another Serbian network, TV Petrovec, along with the Storyteller website had reported on the case before.
The Office for Slovaks Living Abroad has stopped recognising the letters of confirmation issued by Matica Slovenska in Serbia for the first time in its history. Because the local branch refused to cooperate, the Office “has taken several measures and is acting in cooperation with other relevant institutions in Serbia and Slovakia.” The Office declined to provide details.
Branislav Kulik, the head of Matica Slovenska in Serbia, told N1 they’d had doubts about the issued documents and contacted a prosecutor’s office in Serbia and Slovakia to look into their suspicions.
When the letters were handed out to foreigners by the Padina office, it was Jan Kolarik who chaired Matica Slovenska at the Serbian local branch. He died in February 2022.
The documents obtained by N1 show that in the years 2020 and 2021 alone, this branch issued at least seven suspicious letters of confirmation. However, Mihail Spevak from a local association that groups Slovaks told N1 that at least 100 letters were issued.
“Why did they do it?” he asked, “The only logical conclusion is that they wanted to make money.” Based on information provided by sources, the local office charged people from 100 euros to 2,000 euros for the certificate.
The Office for Slovaks Living Abroad also knows of a case from 2016.
Matica Slovenska, which has its main office in Martin, central Slovakia, explained that Matica Slovenska in Serbia is its sister organisation, but it acts independently from the Slovak one.
“The matter in question does not concern Matica Slovenska,” said Slovakia’s Matica Slovenska spokesperson Veronika Grznarova.
Slovaks in the Vojvodina region of Serbia established Matica Slovenska in Bacsky Petrovec in August 1923 to preserve the Slovak language and culture. Today, it runs 30 local offices across the region.
This article is republished from the Slovak Spectator, whose piece was a translated and truncated version of the original that appeared in Slovak in the Sme daily.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
