ISTANBUL

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Saturday accepted the resignation of his national security adviser Miroslav Lajcak following the publication of documents referencing past communication with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Fico announced in a video shared on US social media platform Facebook that he had accepted Lajcak’s offer to step down from his advisory role. He added that Lajcak himself had proposed ending their cooperation following media coverage of the documents.

The issue followed the publication of a large set of files related to Epstein by the US Department of Justice. The documents included references to numerous public figures, among them Lajcak, who previously served as Slovakia’s foreign minister.

Lajcak initially denied any links when contacted by Slovak news outlet 360-tka, saying he did not understand how his name could appear in the messages. Later, in comments to the Slovak news agency TASR, he said he could not confirm the authenticity of the messages due to the time that had passed, adding that any exchange, if it took place, had been informal and without substantive content.

In a subsequent statement, Lajcak said he would speak directly with the prime minister and offer his resignation. He said the move was not due to any criminal or unethical conduct on his part but to prevent Fico from facing political consequences over a matter unrelated to the government’s decisions.

Fico, in his video statement, described Lajcak as an experienced diplomat and said his departure represented a loss of expertise in foreign policy. He also criticized media coverage of the case, saying headlines had exaggerated the significance of the resignation.

Calls for Lajcak’s resignation had come from both opposition and coalition lawmakers in recent days, according to Actuality.sk.