Romanian President Traian Basescu will arrive for an official two-day visit to Slovakia on August 28. The visit is timed to include President Basescu's participation in the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) celebrations planned for August 29 in Banská Bystrica and Zvolen.
Romania, whose World War II history somewhat mirrors Slovakia's, participated substantially in the liberating of Slovakia during WWII and Basescu, along with Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, will make a speech at the 69th commemoration of the SNP in Banská Bystrica (the centre of SNP was in mountains of central Slovakia). In Zvolen, both presidents will visit the military cemetery, where more than 10,000 Romanian soldiers are buried, the TASR newswire wrote August 27.
At the SNP Museum in Banská Bystrica, they will attend the presentation of SNP-related publications – “The Events of August 23 in Romania and SNP of August 29, 1944”; and “Rebel Sky”. The presidents will also take part at the opening of the exhibition "Stauffenberg and the Operation Valkyrie - the planned assassination of Hitler on August 20, 1944".
On August 28, Gašparovič will award two war veterans, Marin Dragne and Victor Goanta, with the Slovak Order of the White Double-Cross and Basescu will grant the Romanian State Award to two Slovak veterans – Ján Gubčo and Pavol Dobrík.
The plenary session of the two leaders will focus on bilateral relations, the European agenda and regional development. Basescu will also meet with the Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška and at the end of his visit will unveil a monument to the Romanian liberation army in Banská Bystrica.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
