Bratislava, January 30 (TASR) – Leader of far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) Marian Kotleba handed over a petition with signatures necessary for his presidential candidacy on Wednesday, TASR learnt on the same day.
“We want actual defence of traditional values to get engaged in the presidential race. We’re going to fight for the post of the Slovak president, as we believe that Slovakia finally deserves to have a Slovak president,” said Kotleba in Parliament.
Kotleba guarantees he won’t give up the presidential race in favour of any other candidate. “I don’t intend to gamble with the trust of the people who put their signatures under my petition,” he said, adding that he won’t do any massive campaigning. “We’ll adhere to the limit set by law,” he said. Presidential candidates can spend up to €0.5 million on their election campaign.
Asked about his opinion on the Holocaust, Kotleba said “we have nothing to apologise for, as we haven’t caused anything like this”. He claims that he’s never denied any genocide and that everybody understands that people were murdered during WWII. “It was something depraved and condemnable,” he said.
Concerning Jozef Tiso, who agreed to deport Jews to wartime concentration camps, he said that “Mr. President Tiso was the first President of the Slovak Republic, a representative of our statehood”. Asked about whether he admires him, Kotleba noted it’s not an admiration. “It’s about sober judgement of circumstances at which he performed his demanding state function,” added Kotleba.
The first round of the presidential election will be held on March 16, with a possible second round, if the head of state isn’t elected in the first one, slated to take place on March 30. Presidential candidates have until January 31 to submit their bids.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.