FILE PHOTO: Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok attends a press conference after a meeting of Slovakia's Security Council during a government meeting, in Bratislava, Slovakia, May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa/File Photo
(Reuters) - Slovakia expelled two men suspected of monitoring energy infrastructure targets including along a major pipeline carrying gas from Ukraine, and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said on Monday security services had dismantled a rogue cell.
The men were deported to Ukraine and Hungary, Sutaj Estok said in a video on Facebook.
Slovakia's government held a national security council meeting last week to discuss the threat of attacks.
"Members of the security and intelligence forces of the Slovak Republic were able to dismantle a rogue cell that posed a potential risk to our security," Sutaj Estok said.
He said Slovakia had seen similar security incidents in recent years, including damage to the Nord Stream pipeline or arson attacks in the Czech Republic, and was taking measures to prevent similar attacks. Officials have said they were stepping up preventive measures.
Sutaj Estok said security actions centred around activities by two foreigners and a Slovak citizen suspected of planning possible attacks on energy infrastructure. He did not name any state actor behind the cell or any specific attacks being planned.
The men used a drone to monitor a transformer station in Velke Kapusany in the east of the country along the Ukraine border, as well as a compressor station for the gas pipeline running there from Ukraine that transports Russian gas, he said.
Other equipment was also discovered, including a number of telephones, notebook, thermal cameras, ballistic vests and other items.
One suspect also used a car at a railway station at the time of loading Slovak army equipment, Sutaj Estok said.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
