REPRESENTATIVES of Liptovský Mikuláš, Žilina Region, have rejected the request from the Russian Embassy to Slovakia to have a Russian military attaché attend celebrations commemorating the 69th anniversary of the town’s liberation from Nazi Germany. The decision came as a response to the situation in Crimea, the TASR newswire reported on April 3.
“We believe that the Russian Federation currently violates the international treaties and agreements it has signed,” said Alexander Slafkovský, mayor of Liptovský Mikuláš, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
The Russian Embassy was surprised by the refusal, saying that the town’s mayor has allegedly forgotten about timeless values that should not be manipulated, like the fight against fascism, as reported by TASR.
“We are convinced that such attitude is a private opinion of Mr Slafkovský and that it does not correspond with the opinion of the town’s inhabitants, nor the whole Slovakia,” Alexej Kulagin, press attaché of the Russian Embassy, said, as quoted by TASR. He added that the embassy considers it a duty to lay wreath to the memorial of the Red Army soldiers in Liptovský Mikuláš.
Historian Stanislav Mičev from the SNP Museum in Banská Bystrica considers the decision of the Liptovský Mikuláš town hall a mistake.
“This has nothing to do with the situation at hand,” Mičev said, as quoted by TASR. “I fail to understand the reason why someone would mix two completely different and unrelated historical events.”
Source: TASR, SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
