Fico bans Georgian Legion commander Mamulashvili from entering Slovakia

The commander of the Georgian National Legion, Mamuka Mamulashvili, has been banned from entering Slovakia. Bratislava believes that he is allegedly involved in organizing the protests that swept the country recently.

According to the Dennik N newspaper, this was announced by Slovakia's Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok.

According to Eštok, ten people were included in the list of people who were banned from entering Slovakia.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico did not answer journalists' questions about how Mamulashvili was supposed to organize the protests in Slovakia. Instead, he accused the media of supporting anti-government sentiment in the country.

During the press conference, Fico showed Mamulashvili taking a photo with Lucia Štasselová, an activist of the Peace for Ukraine project, and Martin Milan Šimečka, a journalist for Dennik N.

The publication writes that Štasselová met Mamulashvili at a discussion of his book when the legion commander was visiting Slovakia.

And Šimečka was a participant in the Dennik N journalists' trip, during which they handed over ambulances and humanitarian aid to Georgian volunteers.

The director of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Pavol Gašpar, said that his special service had confirmed Mamulashvili's personal and economic ties with the civil sector and the opposition. He did not specify what they were specifically.

He added that a specialized group had been formed, which included police officers and employees of the financial administration.

"Today we can already talk about suspicions of committing crimes, such as subsidy fraud," Gašpar said.

The Georgian National Legion on its official Facebook page called the Slovak government's accusations against Mamulashvili and the unit "absurd" and "groundless."

"These statements are nothing more than a deliberate attempt to discredit our unit, which has been fighting alongside Ukraine in its fight against russian aggression since 2014. This is not the first time we have become the target of politically motivated disinformation. The Georgian government, acting under the growing influence of russia, has previously tried to fabricate similar fabrications, accusing the Georgian Legion of preparing a coup d'état or falsely claiming that we are returning to Georgia to participate in protests," the unit wrote.

As a reminder, large-scale protests against the pro-russian policy pursued by Prime Minister Robert Fico began in Slovakia on January 24.

Demonstrations were held in many cities in Slovakia. People in Poland, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Germany joined the protest.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the protests in Slovakia on January 25. He wrote on social media: "Bratislava is not Moscow, but Slovakia is Europe."

On the same day, Fico accused Zelenskyy of allegedly interfering in Slovakia's internal affairs. He also stated that a third of the protest participants were allegedly Ukrainians.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 29, the Slovak Foreign Ministry summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Myroslav Kastran and conveyed to him a "strong protest" over Kyiv's statements regarding Fico.

And on January 30, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summoned Slovakia's Ambassador Pavel Vizdal. He was informed of Bratislava's rejection of Kyiv's statements.