From left to right: MEP Milan Uhrík, Ashot Grigorian and Smer politician Ľuboš Blaha during a "peace symposium" in Bratislava on June 20, 2024. (source: Facebook/Milan Uhrík)
Slovak and foreign Russian-friendly politicians met in Bratislava on June 19 and 20 to take part in the “Bratislava - Capital of Peace” conference at the Hotel Carlton.
Guests discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine but also anti-Russian sanctions, reports the Sme daily.
Russophile Slovak politicians Ľuboš Blaha (Smer) and far-right Republika party leader Milan Uhrík, recently elected to represent Slovakia in the European Parliament, were among the guests of the symposium. Former Slovak prime minister and Putin supporter Ján Čarnogurský (1991-1992) also spoke at the meeting.
“We cannot be afraid to use the word peace, we cannot retreat against those politicians obsessed with war and conflict,” Uhrík said in English, blaming arms companies for the conflict. “People in Slovakia shoot each other only for political opinions,” he added misleadingly.
Uhrík referred to the shooting attack of Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) in May, after which Fico was left seriously injured. The elderly shooter, Juraj C., did not agree with some of the policies pushed through by the Fico government, but he is not considered a liberal either. Still, Blaha claims that the attacker was brainwashed by liberal media and Russophobic organisations. The rare incident is still under investigation.
Second Bratislava conference
Ashot Grigorian, a leading figure of the Armenian Community of Slovakia who has lived in the country since 1993, is said to have organised the meeting. He co-organised a similar event in Bratislava at the end of February. It was then called the “United Kingdom - EU - Russia - Greater Middle East: Challenges and Prospects” conference. One conclusion drawn at the end of the February conference was that “the symposium participants believe that NATO and Western countries should suspend the supply of weapons to Ukraine, accept Russia’s proposals, begin peace negotiations with Russia’s participation and sign a peace treaty”. Pro-Russian German academic and lobbyist Alexander Rahr and the member of Britain’s House of Lords, Baroness Cox, also participated at the event in February.
On Wednesday, Cox again joined the conference from the UK. She expressed hope that a peace treaty might be signed in Bratislava in the future to end the war in Ukraine. In her opening speech, she also welcomed PM Fico and President Peter Pellegrini to the conference, even though they did not take part.
Vladislav Gasumyanov, head of the Russian National Research Institute for Communication Development (NIIRK) joined the event online. NIIRK organised the February symposium in Bratislava. The institute is said to be run by former intelligence officers. Gasumyanov himself worked for Russia’s intelligence services.
Igor Dodon, the Moldovan president until December 2020 and facing corruption charges, participated in this week’s event together with another pro-Russian Moldovan politician, Zinaida Greceanîi. Dodon wrote on social media that he had been invited to Bratislava by Blaha. Blaha called him the “symbol of bravery” at the conference, pointing to his calls for peace and closer ties with Russia. The opposition leader Dodon is seen as a pro-Russian politician, and has good relations with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, notes the Sme daily. In 2022, it was reported that Dodon was paid by the Kremlin to represent its interests in Moldova.
Blaha wants a conference on the freedom of speech
Blaha said that Slovakia is a “peaceful Slavic country” and that Bratislava used to be a “symbolic city of peace” in communist times. He does not understand why there is hatred against Russia. The MP continued by claiming that bigger Slovak cities are full of progressivism and Russophobia dictated by the West, while the countryside wants peace, traditional values and social justice.
“We want peace. We don’t want to be the slaves of the US army, or something like a colony,” he said, arguing that Fico was shot because of his views on the war in Ukraine. Fico’s government halted the military support of Ukraine from the Slovak armed forces soon after it came to power last year. It is also calling for peace without telling Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. Blaha added, “In the western world, you need to follow the American dictate, imperialism, and wars, otherwise you can be the target of hatred, which can lead to assassination attempts.”
Apart from attacking media outlets critical of the government, Blaha also attacked the Bratislava-based security think-tank Globsec, declaring that warmongers and liberals attend its events, including the well-known Globsec Forum conference.
“We would like to organise an anti-Globsec conference,” Blaha, a self-described peace-themed author, noted.
Blaha, who complains that he cannot say “peace” today without being judged, knows what theme the event should have: freedom of speech.
