Ukrainian Embassy Demands Apology for How LSNS MPs Treated Ukrainian Flag

Bratislava, February 9 (TASR) – The Ukrainian Embassy in Slovakia has demanded an apology for the disparaging behaviour of several People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) MPs towards a Ukrainian flag during Tuesday’s parliamentary session, condemning their actions.

Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok (an SaS nominee) stated in response to the embassy that he’s set to apologise to Ukraine in a diplomatic manner.

“Ivan Korcok confirmed Slovakia’s firm and unwavering support for Ukraine. The mistreatment of Ukraine’s flag by MPs Marek Kotleba and Andrej Medvecky [both LSNS] cannot shake this support,” tweeted the embassy.

The minister reported on his Facebook account that he was ashamed of the MPs’ behaviour, all the more so because the incident took place during his talks in Kiev on Tuesday.

“Several weeks of hysteria and scaring people with the Defence Cooperation Agreement with the USA have turned into a rampage by the opposition and extremists in Parliament. It’s become difficult to tell the difference between the two. Things are running amok, and even the [state] symbols of our neighbour, which finds itself in a difficult situation, are no longer sacrosanct,” wrote Korcok, expressing his regret and claiming that Slovakia will apologise diplomatically to Kiev.

LSNS MPs Peter Krupa and Andrej Medvecky, brandishing a Slovak flag, decided to block the podium in the parliamentary chamber before Tuesday’s special session even started. They were confronted by Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MPs Jana Bitto Ciganikova and Miroslav Ziak, who both carried a Ukrainian flag and stood in front of the podium with the flag unfurled. A minor skirmish between the four MPs ensued, with water being thrown. The LSNS MPs, however, also started pouring water on the Ukrainian flag and other LSNS MPs later joined the fray to snatch the flag out of the SaS MPs’ hands.