What a debate with pro-Russian agitators looks like

Are we all about to get dirty?

"Peace protest" organised by pro-Russian agitators in Bratislava on March 3. "Peace protest" organised by pro-Russian agitators in Bratislava on March 3. (Source: Sme - Marko Erd)

Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Ministers faced a pro-Russian crowd. Heger now leads the upcycled Democrats, while Dzurinda starts from scratch. Smer files criminal complaints against opinion writers.

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How to talk in front of a booing crowd

There was so much booing and shouting from the audience that the host could hardly hear her guests, and was often forced to improvise. A noisy pro-Russian group that mingled with the crowd during the debate of two government ministers in eastern Slovakia gave an apt example of what a debate with pro-Russian agitators looks like. It begged the question: is it worth talking to such people at all?

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Acting Foreign Minister Rastislav Káčer and acting Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď met on stage in the eastern-Slovak town of Michalovce for another in a series of live-streamed debates that the Foreign Ministry started organising under the previous minister, Ivan Korčok, as a channel to communicate with the public. They came to talk about the Russian aggression in Ukraine and its impact on Slovakia, and, as expected, were faced with a crowd that included a loud, pro-Russian element.

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Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


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