Several dozen people protested against the presence of Marine Le Pen and other nationalist politicians, who attended a conference organised by the Sme Rodina (We Are Family) party of Boris Kollár in Bratislava.
Slovakia is vulnerable to hybrid threats Read more The demonstrators gathered in front of the River Park Hotel, holding posters reading “They will not pass”, “Freedom is more than a nation”, and “I love Europe”, and flags with crossed-out swastikas, the SITA newswire reported.
They also played loud techno music and some of them played drums.
The protest was attended by several politicians, including Martin Poliačik and Miroslav Beblavý from parliament, as well MEP candidates from Progressive Slovakia and Spolu.
Kollár's conference on hoaxes
Kollár's Sme Rodina is the newest member of the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), joining the faction of Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini in February 2019.
It unites anti-refugee parties in EU countries, with parties like Lega Nord and the Belgian Vlaams Belang, and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) being members.
Kollár, who does not seem to care about the party or political orientation of these parties, organised the conference in Bratislava for shortly after the election to the European Parliament, which takes place in Slovakia on May 13, the Sme daily reported.
This time it is different. But is it? Read more “I’m neither fascist nor racist,” Kollár told Sme. “I want our borders and traditions to be protected. I will not deal with the past, which came first: whether the egg or the chicken.”
The representatives of several opposition parties have criticised Sme Rodina’s membership in the ENF. However, many of them have not ruled out a potential cooperation with the party after next year’s general election, Sme wrote.
Among the speakers of the conference were Failor Kranidiotis of Greek New Right party, Georg Mayer of FPÖ and Le Pen. The main topic were migrants, and several hoaxes and fake news were voiced during the conference, which Slovak authorities have already tried to debunk, Sme wrote.
