Recovering Fico Unexpectedly Attends Event at Slavin War Memorial

Recovering Fico Unexpectedly Attends Event at Slavin War Memorial

Bratislava, May 9 (TASR) – The commemorative event dedicated to fallen WWII soldiers on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of Victory Day held at Bratislava Slavin memorial on Monday was unexpectedly attended by Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is recovering after heart surgery, TASR learnt on the same day.

Government Office had not announced Fico’s participation in advance.

A speech delivered by Vice-premier for Investments Peter Pellegrini warned of extremism, chauvinism and nationalism. The duty to stand vigilant against this threat is all the more urgent today, seeing as the hatred has also managed to creep into Parliament, said Pellegrini, referring to the far-right party Kotleba-People’s Party Our Slovakia, which has won 14 MP seats.

“Spreading hatred against other people based on race or nationality and the marginalisation or even apologising for the war atrocities have made their way in recent years from the fringes of society into the programmes of political parties and even into Parliament itself,” warned Pellegrini.

Meanwhile, shrugging and claiming that the rise of extremism is a Europe-wide phenomenon is just buck-passing, said Pellegrini.

“It seems as if the gap between us and the world’s biggest cataclysm ever has been making us less sensitive to such dangers,” said Pellegrini.

The event was also attended by Parliamentary Vice-chairman Bela Bugar (Most-Hid), several Cabinet members, ambassadors, representatives of regional and local authorities, and figures from the Slovak Association of Anti-fascist Fighters (SZPB). Nonetheless, Pellegrini missed seeing Opposition MPs: “Where are those MPs who have called in Parliament for a fight against fascism? Not even one of them is here.”