Gajdos Attends Wreath-Laying Ceremony to Commemorate Romanian Soldiers

Lest/Senohrad, February 24 (TASR) – Defence Minister Peter Gajdos (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) and Romanian Ambassador to Slovakia Steluta Arhire laid wreathes at the Romanian Army Monument at the Lest (Banska Bystrica region) military training facility on Friday to commemorate the fallen Romanian soldiers who helped to liberate the Javorie locality during WW2, TASR learnt on the same day.  

“Oremov Laz, where the Lest military training facility was later established, and its neighbouring villages were liberated by the Romanian Army 72 years ago. Therefore, I express my sincere honour and thanks to the Romanian heroes who are buried at the nearby cemetery in Zvolen (Banska Bystrica region), as well as at cemeteries in Stara Tura and Trencianska Tepla (both Trencin region),” said Gajdos in his speech during the wreath-laying ceremony.

The Romanian ambassador said that about 560 Romanian soldiers died in February 1945 while liberating the same territory where the current Lest military training facility is situated. As many as 34,500 Romanians fell while liberating the territory of the former Czecho-Slovakia. A large number of those who died in Slovakia (10,400) are buried at the cemetery in Zvolen.

A ceremony to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the liberation also took place in the nearby village of Senohrad (Banska Bystrica region) on Friday morning.