Several NGOs in Slovakia drew public attention on Tuesday, June 8, to what they said were signs of increasingly dangerous developments in Slovakia’s social atmosphere in the run-up to Saturday’s general election, the SITA newswire wrote.
They expressed concern about a lack of sensitivity in the election campaign to manifestations of racism, instigation of ethnic hatred, and apparent displays of political extremism and even of neo-nazism. The NGOs communicated their concerns to Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška, Prime Minister Robert Fico, Deputy Prime Minister Dušan Čaplovič and Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, to whom they wrote an open letter.
It is striking, reads the letter, that election billboards which identify the Roma minority as ‘those who do not want to work’ appeared just as Slovakia is presiding over the joint European initiative Decade of Inclusion of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015.
Source: SITA
For more information, please see: Racist SNS billboard covered up.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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