8/29/2024 Updated 7 hours ago|Source: ČTK, ČT24
Eighty years since the Slovak National Uprising, from the speeches of President Pellegrini and Prime Minister Fico (source: ČT24)
At the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the start of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), the anti-fascist display of Slovaks during the Second World War, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini called for overcoming differences of opinion. The ceremony in the grounds of the SNP Memorial in Banská Bystrica was also attended by Slovak ministers together with Prime Minister Robert Fice and Slovak ex-presidents. The prime minister criticized the sanctions and spoke of sovereignty.
“Our forefathers overcame differences of opinion in a higher interest and began to literally evict fascism from our territory. It is an example that should inspire all today’s social and political elites in Slovakia,” said Pellegrini in his speech.
“We will never allow our history to be distorted. We will never allow hatred to fully dominate Slovak society,” said the president, recalling the massacres in the villages of Ostrý Grúň, Kľak and Kaliště, where the Nazis killed almost 160 people at the end of World War II.
Events: Eighty years since the Slovak National Uprising (source: ČT24)
Fitz’s critique of sanctions
Fico also spoke at the celebrations, according to whom Slovakia should “ask for peace from the whole world even from here in Banská Bystrica”. “We have the right to say that we are a country that wants to cooperate with everyone who respects us, respects our principles and historical rules,” said the prime minister, adding that politicians must not prohibit the public from participating in SNP celebrations.
“It is dangerous that we are witnessing a possible global confrontation today. And what is perhaps even sadder: today the threat of nuclear conflict is being talked about quite openly. That something similar could happen. And let’s be honest now and say to ourselves: even we Europeans are not without fault.”
Fico added that Europeans regularly fall into the trap of believing that they have the right to speak for others and decide what is right and what is wrong. “That we have the right to say, you can’t write this, you can’t say this and you can’t play hockey or you can’t go compete in the Olympics. These are the things that are dangerous because we live in an illusion and think that the world could not survive without this illusion. If someone has a sovereign or self-confident opinion, immediately that opinion is suppressed. We think that we will solve the whole world with sanctions.”
Ex-presidents and the Russian ambassador
In addition to Pellegrini, Slovak ex-presidents Rudolf Schuster, Ivan Gašparovič and Andrej Kiska took part in the ceremony and laying of wreaths in Banská Bystrica. The server aktuality.sk noted that the organizers have also invited representatives of Russia to the celebrations, which will culminate in a two-hour military parade in the afternoon. The Russian ambassador in Bratislava, Igor Bratčikov, is also present.
Pellegrini’s predecessor Zuzana Čaputová remembered the SNP in the High Tatras. “I remembered the Slovak national uprising in the places where the fighting took place,” she wrote on Facebook.
The media has already reported that no top Czech politician will represent the Czech Republic in Banská Bystrica. The country was represented by the Chief of the Army Staff and the Ambassador. “As far as I know, the invitations were managed by the Slovak government office. President Peter Pavel received the invitation, but he had long been promised a two-day participation in the Paralympics in Paris. That’s why he apologized,” said the ambassador of the Czech Republic to Slovakia, Rudolf Jindrák.
A large project
There are strict security measures at the celebrations. According to the website Sme, they are supervised by 1,100 police officers and 135 members of the Office for the Protection of Constitutional Officials. Concerns about the security of politicians increased after the assassination of Prime Minister Fico.
Slovakia wanted to show the celebrations, which cost almost seventy million crowns, as a massive government project, said Jan Šilhan, correspondent of CT in Slovakia. The military parade was one of the most expensive. According to the reporter, it was preceded by weeks of preparations and days full of traffic closures. In the early evening, 2.5 thousand members of the army and dozens of pieces of equipment from all over Slovakia moved along the embankment.
A novelty of the celebration was the swearing in of hundreds of soldiers, on the contrary, the laying of wreaths is traditional. The Eternal Fire commemorates fifteen thousand victims and fallen partisans.
Events, comments: Jan Rychlík on the SNP anniversary celebrations (source: ČT24)
A watchword for rebellion
Slovakia commemorates the launch of the SNP on August 29, 1944 every year with a public holiday. “Start the evictions” was the slogan that started the fighting against the Nazis. Sixty thousand people participated in them. They quickly gained the center of Slovakia, but faced the superiority of German troops for only two months. Also due to demanding coordination.
At that time, sixteen-year-old Vladimír Strmeň was a member of a military band. He exchanged the pipe on August 29 for a rifle and mines. “They taught us how to mine rails, bridges, viaducts, objects that needed to be blown up in such a way as to cause as much damage as possible,” he recalls.
The uprising took place in smaller numbers and earlier than planned, recalled Šilhan. And he added that the military defeat still meant a diplomatic victory in the end. After years of pro-Hitler rule, it opened the door to the victorious powers for Slovaks.
