UK: Anti-fascists, Roma, students thwart planned meeting of Slovak fascists in London

Last month in London a meeting was scheduled to be held in a local bar between representatives of the "People's Party Our Slovakia - Marian Kotleba" party (ĽSNS), Slovak MEP Milan Uhrik, and Slovak nationals living in London. The party is known for its anti-Romani attitudes in particular, and so the gathering was ultimately thwarted by protesters from members of the anti-fascist platform Unite Against Fascism (UAF), Roma from Slovakia living in the UK, and students.

UAF’s Paul Sillett told the Morning Star newspaper that “More than 60 anti-fascists turned up to oppose them. Many of the protesters were Slovakian Roma living in Britain. One group came from Dover. It was really heartening.”

According to the paper, the protesters drew the attention of owners of bars in the area to the nature of the planned meeting. The proprietors then refused to allow the fascists entry.

“They went to a third pub and were refused entry. There were about a dozen of them," Sillet said.

Police were summoned to the site of the protest, but nobody was arrested. Morning Star reports that the event, which it described as the first-ever collective Roma protest against Slovak neo-Nazis in the UK, was organized by Daniela Abraham, a 39-year-old Romani woman from Slovakia now living in London.