Pellegrini: Even Today We Must Seek and Find What Can Unite Us

Bratislava, July 17 (TASR) - Taking to Facebook on the occasion of Wednesday's anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Slovak Republic, President Peter Pellegrini stressed the need to seek and find what can unite, noting that even 32 years ago Slovakia was divided on a key political issue, but the establishment of the state and a joint embarkation on a new historical mission made it possible to overcome this division to a large extent. "That is why today we have to seek and find what can unite us because the Slovak nation has been strong precisely at moments when it's been able to unite. Today, we certainly need that common strength in these turbulent times," said the president. Pellegrini called the Declaration of Sovereignty a clear and very fundamental political statement that the Slovak nation has the right to exist in its own state. "The adoption of this document triggered a fundamental political movement that culminated in the establishment of the independent Slovak Republic," he noted. Slovakia, he said, didn't realise the concerns that were associated with the nascent state. "The Slovak Republic is a sovereign and democratic state firmly anchored in the European Union and NATO, and relations with our former fellow citizens, now citizens of the Czech Republic, are literally family-like and highly above-standard," remarked the president. Wednesday marks the 32nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Slovak Republic. The document was adopted at a time when Slovakia was still part of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, but talks were already underway between Czech and Slovak political representives on the further arrangement of ties between Slovaks and Czechs. zel/df