Poltár, a city in southern Slovakia, invited representatives of the Russian embassy to the commemoration of the liberation of World War II, a move that was heavily criticised by the Defence Ministry.
“This action is in absolute contradiction with the values of the Department of Defence, the Slovak Republic and the entire democratic world,” the Ministry wrote in a statement.
Mayor Peter Sitor believes it is wrong to make WWII a political issue. In his speech, he urged not to mix the past and the present and thanked the representative of the Russian Embassy, Andrei Barashkin for coming to Poltár in both Slovak and Russian.
Sitor took office only a few weeks ago, running in the autumn municipal elections with the support of Smer-SD and Hlas as well as far-right movements Republika and the Slovak Renewal Movement.
When asked if he doesn’t find it problematic to celebrate liberation with representatives of a country waging war against its neighbour, he only said he condemns the war, but “enemies are not the countries,” but individuals spreading hate and participating in the misfortune of others. He also said that people who came to Poltár are not to blame for the war.
The commemoration was co-organised by the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters and attended by the district chairwoman of the Hlas party of former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, currently the strongest party in Slovakia, according to the polls.
Hlas wrote in a statement that the party supports the anti-fascist policies and they are not responsible for the invited guests.
Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO) warned the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters that “if any branch of the organisation continues to co-organise events where state killing innocents is praised, we will have to end our cooperation with them.”
(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)
Source: euractiv.com
