An effort by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to lift European sanctions against businessman and biker Jozef Hambálek is likely to reveal a communication channel between Russian domestic intelligence and pro-Russian groups in Slovakia. Jozef Hambálek came to our attention earlier, due to his ties to Russian Night Wolves biker club, close to Putin, and affiliated with the FSB, that has a military wing in Slovakia, associated with neo-Nazis.
Fico blamed previous Foreign Minister Korčok for allegedly misinforming his colleagues on Hambálek. We believe, however, that the former Slovak Foreign Ministry head did not disclose information about the relations with neo-Nazi groups in Slovakia.
Hambálek has long been in contact with Fico’s Smer party members, particularly with Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák. Kaliňák was the one to provided Hambálek with military vehicles, deliberately written off from the Defense Ministry warehouses, and brought to Hambálek‘s Night Wolves training camp in Dolná Krupá. Given the Night Wolves’ role in Crimea’s annexation, Ukraine, in 2014, a Russian hybrid camp in Slovakia might pose a threat to NATO forces in Eastern Europe.
More on this story: Russia keeps setting up and backing neo-Nazi fighting groups in the West
The European Commission credited Fico’s victory in the election to the Kremlin’s support and pro-Russian propaganda and misinformation campaign. The decision by Fico’s government to stop providing military assistance to Ukraine and dissolve the experts, who countered disinformation, and spoke about meddling and non-compatibility, indirectly supports the idea of Russia’s hand in Fico’s victory. The experts claimed the government spread misinformation and held pro-Russian narratives. They believed meddling in counter-disinformation effort became a major issue, as people in Slovakia tend to believe in various conspiracies, while Russia takes full advantage of that in misinformation campaigns and active influence operations by local intelligence.
Daniel Milo, who headed the Center for Countering Hybrid Threats of the Ministry of Interior, resigned, and said he was unable to keep on working in this field with current government. That means Slovakia became more vulnerable to Russia’s information campaigns, as Fico came to power.
Hambálek is most likely to be involved in money laundering for Russian intelligence activity, and financial transactions, to pay Russian HUMINT for its work in the European Union.
