Slovak Regional Governor not invited to National Uprising celebrations because he is a Fascist
The Governor of the Banská Bystrica Region is usually a regular invitee to the celebrations of the anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising. The TASR press agency has reported that this year the anniversary will be different.
The governor of the region – which is where the uprising took place – is now the Slovak Fascist Marian Kotleba. The director of the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising has not sent him an invitation to the celebration.
I won’t invite a Fascist
Stanislav Mičev, director of the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising in Banská Bystrica, has confirmed that he has not invited Kotleba to the 70th anniversary celebrations. The museum, which is the main organizer of the event, has not sent an invitation even though it is probably a violation of protocol.
The museum took into consideration the views of the official guests and all of the other attendees of the ceremony, which will take place on 29 August beneath the Slovak National Uprising Monument in Banská Bystrica. "I don’t care whether this is permissible from the standpoint of protocol or not, I am not interested in what Mr Kotleba thinks," Mičev said when asked about the usual protocol for such celebrations.
"I won’t invite a Fascist to a celebration of an anti-Fascist accomplishment, it just seems absurd and distasteful to me. If Mr Kotleba wants, if he has the stomach for it, then he can join those who participated in the uprising and look them in the eyes, let him do so, but he’ll do it as a private individual. I believe someone who says the uprising was a betrayal of the Slovak nation, who says it was participated in by deserters from the Slovak Army, has no business coming here. It’s unacceptable to me," the director explained.
Governor may attend only as a private individual
Mičev has said that if he were to receive a direct order from someone in the Government or from a ministry to invite Kotleba, he would not attend the celebration himself in that event. "[Kotleba] can come as a private individual, anyone can come to the celebration. However, he will not sit among the official guests and no one will welcome him. We must realize that if he is going to be there to welcome the official guests, none of them will come. No one wants to communicate with him and they don’t want to have anything to do with him. The reactions I’m getting from the embassies are proof of that. They are asking whether Mr Kotleba is invited and telling me in advance that if he is, they will not attend the ceremony. I consider it far more important that the invited guests attend," the museum director emphasized.
Kotleba celebrates Tiso’s regime
Kotleba makes no secret of his negative opinions about the Slovak National Uprising, which he has presented publicly more than once. During his time in office as the chair of the Regional Administration, articles have even been published in the regional monthly "Our Region" (Náš kraj) singing the praises of the wartime Slovak State and Tiso’s regime.
The governor has also avoided laying wreaths at the Memorial to the Murdered Victims who were executed by the Nazis in the Kremnica Mountains. The commemorative ceremony there was initiated by regional representatives during a meeting of the Banská Bystrica Regional Authority.
