The "Ukraine is the enemy" billboard. (source: Mier Ukrajine)
Pro-Russian billboards have appeared by Slovak roads in recent days, causing outrage among the Ukrainian community and some Slovaks.
“Ukraine is our enemy” or “We won’t survive without Russia” are just some of the controversial slogans printed on these large outdoor signs. They have already been spotted in Bratislava, Trnava, as well as Trenčín.
Almost 100 billboards with different controversial slogans are scattered across the country.
Although it may seem that pro-Russian Slovak politicians, including those in the ruling coalition, are behind the campaign, the Sme daily writes that it is the Demokrati party that has put up the billboards.
The civic organisation Mier Ukrajine (Peace to Ukraine) has already called on the party to stop using these slogans.
“We strongly ask Demokrati to immediately stop the campaign, which we consider inappropriate, unethical and also a deep insult to all those who were and are still threatened by Russian aggression in Ukraine,” writes the civic organisation on Facebook.
According to the daily, the organisations helping Ukrainian refugees were informed about the campaign prior to its launch.
Still, given the criticism that the initiative has received from some groups, the pro-Western non-parliamentary party, chaired by ex-defence minister Jaroslav Naď, explained everything at a press conference on Wednesday. Naď confirmed that Demokrati has paid for the campaign. However, he stressed that the party is not the author of these controversial statements.
The chair added that they were also horrified by the statements as soon as they were made. He hinted at pro-Russian politicians in the country, including PM Robert Fico and SNS leader Andrej Danko.
Demokrati also uses the “We don’t need NATO and the EU” slogan on billboards.
The party’s campaign is being launched two months ahead of the European Parliament elections, in which people in Slovakia will elect 15 MEPs. Demokrati is hoping that people will not elect “pro-Russian servants and extremists”.
According to Naď, a new design will appear on the controversial billboards by Sunday. It should say “neustupime.sk ” (we won’t give up), and the website should take people to the party’s campaign website. Also, the controversial slogans should be changed to “Ukraine is our friend”, “We can survive without Russia”, and “We need NATO and the EU”.
Naď also thanked those people who have criticised the anti-Ukrainian slogans. He described it as the right thing to do. The chair underlined that the goal of the campaign isn’t to hurt Ukrainian people. However, he admitted that some individuals from Mier Ukrajine didn’t like the campaign from the start.
The official campaign for these European elections began in Slovakia on February 10. The elections will take place on June 8.
"Ukraine is a friend" slogan. (source: Demokrati)
