Prague, July 30 (CTK) – Radek Koten (Freedom and Direct Democracy, SPD), controversial head of the lower house security committee, applied for a security clearance about one month ago, he told Czech Radio (CRo) public broadcaster on Monday.
Koten promised to apply for the clearance when he was elected the committee’s chairman last November.
Koten requested a clearance that would allow him to deal with classified information as the committee did not receive top secret documents, CRo writes on its website.
Koten said this clearance lasted about six months.
“It will be good for everybody if the National Security Office checks me and does not conclude that I am a Russian agent or something like that,” he said.
The TOP 09 party called on Koten to apply for a top secret clearance.
Koten previously said nobody wanted the previous heads of the security committee to pass a security vetting.
Koten was allegedly a member of a group supporting a referendum for Czech departure from the EU, a group considering Islam evil and he promoted a website condemning NATO and the EU and praising Russia. In reaction, Koten said he did not administer his Facebook profile himself.
