Slovakia’s parliament on Thursday accelerated reforms to abolish the Special Prosecutor’s Office (USP), which deals with high-level crimes, and ease penalties for financial crimes, despite public outcry and concerns from the European Commission, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Robert Fizo’s government has argued that the changes are needed to end what it called the excesses of the Special Prosecutor’s Office and bias against the current ruling SMER-SSD party.

“The previous government … violated the principles of the rule of law and violated human rights,” SMER MP Tibor Gaspar, a former police chief who is under investigation, told parliament.

The government said the changes would modernize the criminal code by reducing long prison terms and favoring alternative punishments.

President Zuzana Chaputova immediately signaled that she would try to stop the changes, possibly through a veto or a legal challenge.

The opposition and tens of thousands of Slovaks who have protested in rallies across the country in recent weeks say the changes will protect Fico’s political and business allies from investigations.

The law is a “terrible amnesty” for this circle, said MP Michal Sipos from the opposition Slovenian Party.

According to a letter sent to the Slovak government, in December the European Commission asked the government not to rush the changes and raised concerns about some reforms, including the continuity of high-level corruption investigations and adequate protection of EU funds. and saw Reuters.

An EU official said Thursday that the commission’s concerns remain, which could lead to legal action and budgetary implications.

In recent years, the EU has taken similar measures against Poland and Hungary.

The government says it consulted the EU on the reform and made some last-minute changes to its proposal, but it was unclear whether that would ease concerns.

The proposal would reduce penalties for, for example, misuse of EU funds, corruption, tax fraud, theft or manipulation of public tenders.

Sentences for many crimes will be commuted to probation or house arrest, and statutes of limitations that make crimes go unpunished after certain periods will be shortened.