Miroslav Suja. (source: TASR)
A far-right Republika MP, Miroslav Suja, is the party's agriculture and environmental team leader. On many occasions he sharply criticises both the Environment Ministry and activists for trying to strengthen the protection of nature, calling them "ecoterrorists".
When the national park reform was accepted in Slovak parliament, he claimed that "ecoterrorists have just killed life in the country". The goal of the reform was to significantly expand non-interference areas in parks, where it will not be possible to harvest wood.
The party is also strongly against the EU's climate goal.
However, between 2009 and 2013 he was on the Green Party's slate. He ran for the representative of the Banská Bystrica Region and was elected.
Suja admitted to the daily Sme that he had been a member of the party, as well as its president. At the time, the Green Party's sole agenda was environmental protection: it stood against the Pezinok waste dump and promoted sustainable energy. In addition, liberal left-wing politicians used to be on the party's slate.
All this is in stark contrast to what Suja and Repulika claim now.
"There were no ecoterrorists in the Green Party back then. Only businessmen, that is why I left," Suja says.
He is not the only Republika representative who had to explain "their past" recently. Last week, it was revealed that in 2010, Republika chair Milan Uhrík belonged to the youth group Nová Generácia (New Generation), which was affiliated with the SDKÚ pro-western political party financed from abroad. Uhrík was a member for at least three years, from 2010 to 2012. At that time, the party was headed by pro-Western former PM Mikuláš Dzurinda.
Republika plans to hold an anti-NATO referendum.
