“OUR freedom, democracy, and state independence, the position of Slovakia in Europe and in the world, our opportunities, and our historical conscience, all that is based on the decision of the SNP participants from 70 years ago, their courage, and their sacrifices,” Slovak President Andrej Kiska during the main ceremony of 70th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) which took the place in Banská Bystrica on August 29.
Besides Kiska, Prime Minister Robert Fico, Czech President Miloš Zeman and Parliament Speaker Pavol Paška participated in the event.
The Slovak National Uprising (SNP) was one of the key moments in Slovakia’s World War II history, when some in the Nazi-allied Slovak state stood up against the oppressive regime. By rising up against the occupiers, Slovaks tried to show the world that most of the nation supported the Allies, unlike the official government of the country back then, Marek Syrný, a historian at the SNP Museum in Banská Bystrica told The Slovak Spectator in late August.
“The importance of the uprising can be seen mainly in the fact that a significant part of the Slovak society stood up against the regime,” Martina Fiamová, a historian from the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, told The Slovak Spectator.
The budget of the celebrations including accompanying events was projected at €445,000. The Slovak cabinet allocated €345,500 for this purpose, while the SNP Museum was to contribute €65,000 and the Culture Ministry has allocated €35,000, SITA wrote in early June. The biggest portion of this amount, €200,000, was to go towards making adjustments to the SNP museum’s premises.
Before the celebration started Slovakia’s best-known far-right extremist, Marian Kotleba, the governor of Banská Bystrica Region (BBSK) who has repeatedly described the SNP as a predominantly communist-led uprising against the state, put up a banner on the building of BBSK saying: “Yankees go home! Stop NATO!”
Compiled by Roman Cuprik from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
Correction: We have removed the first sentence of the original story reading “Partisans should be celebrated for fighting evil, was the key message of Slovak President Andrej Kiska during the main ceremony of 70th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) which took the place in Banská Bystrica on August 29”.)
