Following a July 31, 2026, collision in the Kastelec tunnel on the Primorska highway involving President Nataša Pirc Musar’s security convoy, authorities have denied public access to the police accident report.
The Kastelec Tunnel Collision and Official Secrecy
Nearly three weeks after a high-profile crash in the Kastelec tunnel on the Primorska highway heading toward Ljubljana, state authorities have officially refused to release the police accident report. The Ministry of the Interior issued a complete rejection of a public information request filed on August 11, 2026, aimed at securing the records. The incident occurred on July 31, 2026, while President Nataša Pirc Musar was returning from her holiday in Croatia to attend an event in Komenda honoring cyclist Tadej Pogačar.
The presidential convoy consisted of a Mercedes-Benz V300 van carrying the president and two accompanying police vehicles. According to official police statements released on August 3, the collision occurred because the 52-year-old driver of the Mercedes-Benz V300 failed to maintain a safe following distance behind an Audi security vehicle driven by a 34-year-old driver. The president’s vehicle subsequently collided with the tunnel wall after striking the first car in the convoy.
The incident has since been handed over to the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, specifically the Department for the Investigation and Prosecution of Official Persons with Special Powers, to examine potential negligence leading to a traffic accident carrying penalties of up to three years in prison or a fine. Citing the ongoing pretrial investigation, the Special State Prosecutor’s Office declined to provide further details.
Disclosures Surrounding Passengers and Public Scrutiny
Public interest intensified significantly after initial reports failed to mention all the occupants of the presidential van. Beyond the driver and security personnel, investigators and media outlets established that two female friends of the president were on board: Viktorija Krivolucka and Urška Repovš. Subsequent media coverage revealed that Krivolucka, a Russian national with Slovenian citizenship, had been convicted years earlier in a fatal 2007 traffic accident involving an Austrian motorcyclist according to commentary published by siol.net.
Krivolucka addressed the intense public scrutiny in an interview, pushing back against insinuations of intelligence ties and emphasizing that she was not the primary target of the political attacks. Krivolucka stated in remarks covered by Strogo Zaupno that she was merely a weapon being used against Nataša, adding that her only sin was being her friend, and explained that she maintains no knowledge of confidential state documents because the president strictly separates friendship from official duties.
The revelation of unvetted passengers and delayed transparency triggered widespread speculation, including fringe conspiracy theories shared across social media platforms like X. One anonymous online account operating under the pseudonym Leteči izvidnik
went as far as characterizing the crash as an intentional assassination attempt against the head of state as detailed by Strogo Zaupno.
Institutional Oversight and Administrative Inquiries
The handling of the accident has prompted multiple official investigations into police conduct and administrative compliance. Danijel Lorbek, acting general director of the police, ordered a formal technical supervision over the operations of the Koper Police Directorate regarding road traffic safety as reported by delo.si. This directive follows an initial review of the accident report submitted by the directorate last week.
Concurrently, the Ministry of the Interior’s Directorate for Police Oversight launched its own inquiry under instructions from Interior Minister Franci Matoz. The ministry requested detailed explanations regarding the police’s initial information release strategy and addressed media allegations that one of the convoy drivers had past associations with drug investigations according to delo.si.
The presidential office maintained that the president does not feel personally threatened and retains full confidence in her security detail. Commenting on the structural arrangement of her protection team—which originates from an internal setup established during the tenure of Robert Golob—the office noted that Pirc Musar would not oppose returning the protection officers to the standard Security and Protection Directorate once working hours and professional staffing standards are appropriately adjusted noted delo.si.
Anticipated Reviews and Next Steps
The unfolding sequence now hinges on the completion of the Ministry of the Interior’s compliance evaluation and the ongoing criminal inquiry by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office. Observers await the release of the supervisory findings by the police directorate to clarify whether procedural failures contributed to the collision inside the Kastelec tunnel.
