President’s Office denies it hired private security agency

The Office of the President has dismissed the claim that it had hired a private security agency which had been allowed to operate at Prague Castle with unrestricted access to its premises. The office denied the allegation in response to a statement made by the president-elect, Petr Pavel, who said on Friday that there were suspicions regarding a private security agency operating outside the normal security regime at the Castle.

President Miloš Zeman previously accused the head of the BIS intelligence service Michal Koudelka of ordering wiretaps of people in his inner circle, including economic adviser Martin Nejedlý, who is believed to have links to Russia. The president said at the time that he himself had been wiretapped within this operation.