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| - Police have detained the head of Slovakia's intelligence agency over possible corruption, Slovak media reported on Thursday, deepening a political crisis caused by spiralling Covid deaths. The arrest of Vladimir Pcolinsky, director of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), would be a further blow for Prime Minister Igor Matovic's government which appointed him last year. "We will not comment on ongoing actions," Special Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Jan Tokolyova told AFP on Thursday. Quoting unnamed sources, local JOJ television network reported that Pcolinsky will face corruption charges. Matovic's four-party centre-right coalition is already under pressure over its handling of the pandemic as Slovakia currently has the world's second highest per capita rate of Covid deaths. A spokesman for President Zuzana Caputova said she had been informed of the situation and would "decide in the coming hours whether to temporarily remove the director of the SIS". Political analyst Juraj Marusiak told AFP that Pcolinsky's detention could cause a "rupture" in the ruling coalition. @When it comes to political culture, Slovakia is sinking into the level of Ukraine or Russia," Marusiak added. After being appointed in March 2020, the Matovic-led government pledged to combat high-level corruption in the EU country of 5.4 million. Since last year, dozens of high-ranking police chiefs, prosecutors, and judges have been detained for alleged corruption. But Pcolinsky would be the first high-level official nominated by the current government to be arrested for corruption. Marusiak said it was a good sign that the current government "is not after only former officials but a nominee of the current government is not untouchable either". The four coalition parties have been trying to resolve their first major crisis for days. On Wednesday, the four party chairmen held talks until late into the night but no statement has been released on the outcome. juh/dt/lc
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