SNP80: Fico: Main Mission of Uprising Was to End WW2 and Promote Peace

Banska Bystrica/Bratislava, August 29 (TASR) - The main mission of the 1944 Slovak National Uprising (SNP) was to end WW2 and make sure that peace prevailed, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated in his speech at Thursday's celebrations of the 80th anniversary of SNP in Banska Bystrica. At the same time, SNP has put an end to the passivity and parochialism of the Slovak nation, thinks Fico. "We have the right to demand even from here, in Banska Bystrica, peace for the entire world. We have the right to say that we are a country, that wishes to cooperate with everyone who's in favour of peaceful coexistence, with everyone who shows us respect and everyone who accepts our principles and historic rules," underlined Fico and added that it must never happen again that public access to commemorations of the SNP is not allowed by governing politicians [under previous governments, public participation was banned due to COVID-19 restrictions -ed.note]. In Fico's view, the international order has disintegrated into a cut-throat competition bereft of any rules. "We must establish a new international order and do our utmost to ensure that the world peace prevails for the next 50 years," he said. According to the Prime Minister, red lines, laid down during the Cold War, have continuously been crossed. "It's dangerous that we're witnessing a potential global confrontation today," claimed Fico. He added that as soon as someone voices a sovereign or self-confident opinion, that opinion is immediately silenced. mf/mcs