Slovak President Kiska calls on voters to remove Fascists from office

News server Dennikn.sk reports that Slovak President Andrej Kiska gave a speech in Banská Bystrica last week to celebrate the anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising in which he sharply objected to the ultra-right party “Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko Mariana Kotleby” (Marian Kotleba’s People’s Party Our Slovakia – LSNS), which holds seats in the national legislature and the governorship of the Banská Bystrica Region. “I believe it is our duty to do more than just commemorate the bravery of our forebears one day a year and lay flowers at the memorials to the fallen. At a time when Nazi and Fascist ideologies are growing unscrupulously in our country, it is not enough recall the past and to make speeches,” he said.

The President called for the upcoming regional elections to be ones in which Slovak voters drive the Fascists out of office in Banská Bystrica and to reject their candidates in Nitra and other regions, according to news server hnonline.sk. The only contribution that the followers of Kotleba’s party are making to the society-wide discussion, in the President’s view, is the dissemination of abuse of power, hatred and intimidation.

Kiska said he comprehends why many voters are disgusted by the state of politics in Slovakia. In his view, however, that is a weak reason for letting the country be taken over by the Fascists.

“Today we do not have to stand up to the enemy with weapons, nor do we have to face their military superiority. We do not have to overcome our concerns for our families, our fear for our very lives. It’s enough for us to be real citizens who vote in November and choose non-Fascist candidates. Through democratic elections we can begin to change the story of our country, and gradually, step by step, we will again drive the Fascists out of public life. There are more of us, and we can defeat them,” the Slovak President said.