Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean on November 27 attended a panel discussion on Solidarity in a Global World at Comenius University (which has the pre-eminent Canadian Studies faculty in Slovakia) held on the occasion of her ongoing visit to Slovakia.
In her address to the panel, featuring prominent Slovaks such as former Slovak ambassador to the U.S. Martin Bútora and Executive Director of the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) Jack Jedwab, she called for solidarity from everyone. As she explained, it was a personal responsibility, and she stressed the need for togetherness as well as readiness to reject hatred, indifference and exclusion.
Bútora, who currently heads the Institute for Public Affairs, spoke about the lack of solidarity in Slovakia, especially with respect to the country's Roma, the handicapped and refugees. Governor General Jean and her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond, in Slovakia for a four-day official visit to Slovakia as part of a tour of Central Europe, on November 26, were welcomed by President Ivan Gašparovič and his wife Silvia. Jean is also scheduled to visit Banska Bystrica, where she will meet NGO leaders and open an exhibition of Calgary artists entitled Images and Reflections - The Artists' Circle of Calgary at the State Science Library.
Governor General Jean founded an organisation helping refugee women and children living in difficult living conditions, and launched a campaign for aiding victims of sexual and domestic violence. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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