Slovakia: MPs, Mayor of Bratislava unable to block neo-Nazi march

Approximately 100 demonstrators did not manage to blockade a march today by promoters of the ultra-right who gathered in Bratislava on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the creation of the fascist Slovak state. Around 200 followers of the ultra-right Slovak Solidarity association (Slovenská pospolitost – SP) met in front of the office of Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič after 14:00 to march through the streets of Bratislava to the grave of wartime leader Jozef Tiso at the Martinský Cemetery. Tiso was sentenced to death for war crimes and executed in 1947.

Counter-demonstrators and Mayor Milan Ftáčnik waited at Náměstí SNP to block the march, but the neo-Nazis changed their route to avoid them. "One can either be there on Hodžovo náměstí or here at this gathering expressing opposition. My opinion is unequivocal, I cannot support neo-fascism in any form," Ftáčnik explained to news server SME.sk. For more than a week the mayor had personally agitated for people to attend the counter-protest.

Both the neo-Nazi march and the blockade of it were properly announced, although the blockade, which was the mayor’s initiative, was announced by organizers just one day before the march was scheduled. Activists, the mayor and MPs were ready to blockade the neo-Nazi march at Náměstí SNP, but the marchers chose another route under the surveillance of dozens of municipal and state police officers.

Activists then attempted to cross the ultra-right extremists’ path elsewhere. There were no serious clashes except for the situation in which independent Slovak MP Alojz Hlina confronted the marchers before being taken to a police station with at least four promoters of the ultra-right. Video footage of the incident is here: http://www.romea.cz/cz/zpravodajstvi/zahranicni/neonacisty-se-v-bratislave-nepodarilo-zablokovat-mezi-extremisty-kteri-vzpominali-na-fasisticky-stat-byli-i-cesi-z-dm

Despite his arrest, Hlina is satisfied with the approach taken by police. "I managed to get around them and to at least symbolically enact the aim of the blockade," Hlina told the SITA press agency. "I believe the police behaved professionally. However, I was alarmed by the state of the police station," he said, comparing it to a stable.

Hlina believes ultra-right demonstrations have no place on the streets of the capital. "The police have many other obligations to meet," he said.

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The two groups of demonstrators eventually met up at the entrance to the Martinský Cemetery. Riot police prevented those counter-protesting neo-fascism and neo-Nazism from accessing the cemetery. Activists attempted to break through the police cordon several times in order to prevent the neo-Nazis from making it to the grave of Josef Tiso, but did not succeed.

The emeritus chair of the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities, Pavel Traubner, political scientist Grigorij Mesežnikov and MP Ľuboš Blaha (Smer) came in person to support the counter-demonstrators. Several members of the Czech Workers’ Youth (Dělnická mládež – DM), which is close to the ultra-right extremist Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS), were among the neo-Nazis.

The neo-Nazis used the gathering to spread propaganda against the European Union. "The independence we gained in 1993 was lost when we entered the European Union," Jakub Škrabák, the SP leader, declared at the demonstration.

Škrabák claimed the EU serves the aim of colonizing and enslaving other nations and that through its EU membership, Slovakia has lost its borders and its currency while its laws are now subservient to EU legislation. "Just as we entered the European Union, we can also leave it. I would rather live in poverty than in slavery," Škrabák said.

According to public opinion polls, most Slovaks advocate EU membership for their country. The Slovak economy is dependent upon exports to EU Member States, and many firms headquartered in the more advanced states of the EU-27 have invested into the country.

Police monitored the situation in the capital throughout the day. Dozens of municipal and state police patrols were deployed, as was a water cannon.