Kos to respond to Eurodeputs over charges of co-operation with Yugoslav secret police

The meeting of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission (AFET), in which Commissioner Kos is scheduled for 20 April, will take part.

The European People's Party (EPP), as the largest political group in the European Parliament, has called for holding an extraordinary hearing session. However, as Free Europe Radio (REL) has been told, instead of an extraordinary session, a regular meeting of the Commission for Foreign Affairs will be held, which will replace the meeting scheduled earlier on March 16th.

That meeting, though scheduled weeks ago, was canceled by Kos calling on a busy agenda. The annulment occurred shortly after new information about her biography was released.

European Commissioner for Enlargement from Slovenia has faced charges that he has been an accomplice of Yugoslav secret police, known as U The DBA, after on March 10th at the European Parliament facilities, the book titled “The Slovenian author's” Commissioner Igor Omerza was promoted. Documents are presented in this book, which the author claims testify that Martha Kos has collaborated with the Yugoslav secret police.

The European Commission denies that Kos has co-operated with the security structures of the former Yugoslavia. EC officials refer to a broad and detailed process of verification during its nomination by Slovenia for the commission post.

The European Parliament approved its appointment in the same process as for all 27 commissionors. The Juridical Commission of The EP reviewed its declaration of interest and found no conflict of interest. The European Commission has no further comments”, European Commission spokesman Guillaume Mercier said on March 13th.

State Security Directorate (UDBA) was formed in Yugoslavia shortly after the end of World War II in 1946, while in 1966 it was renamed to the State Security Service.

The UDBA was known for its role in the persecution of political opponents in Yugoslavia in the post-World War II years, while a significant part of its activities in the decades that followed was focused on pursuing and acting against diaspora members who were considered opponents of Yugoslavia's interests.

The allegations that Kos has been an associate of the Yugoslav secret police appeared for the first time in 2017, during the hearing hearing to confirm her appointment as Slovenia's European commission candidate.

Kos constantly denies these accusations, while the new April 20th meeting will be the first opportunity to express it after new facts published in the book, which have prompted a new wave of charges. REL