Slovak Military Distances Itself from Activities of Smilno Mayor (2)

Bratislava/Smilno, November 22 (TASR) - The Slovak armed forces have emphatically distanced themselves from the activities of Smilno village mayor (Presov region) Vladimir Baran, who handed over tens of thousands of euros from a public fundraiser to Russia while wearing a military uniform, TASR has learnt from the army's social network. "We emphasise that the people involved in this are not active members of the Slovak armed forces and that their activities don't reflect the values and official stances of the Slovak armed forces regarding Russia's aggression in Ukraine," declared the military. President Peter Pellegrini said that just as for objective reasons he rejected all requests concerning the possibility to go to fight as a foreign national in the Ukrainian army, he would expect that no one in a Slovak uniform would show up on either side of the military conflict. "I think this is a fair approach and this is how Slovakia should behave, including our citizens. Of course, you can't prevent individual actions of specific people, so please let's take it as such, not as any official action of the Slovak Republic. It is an individual action of two people who went there and they are responsible for their actions," said Pellegrini, commenting on the activities of the Smilno mayor. During his visit to Russia, Baran, clad in a military uniform, handed over to representatives of Russia a cheque for tens of thousands of euros that had been raised to support the civilian population in the Kursk region. mf/df/am/mcs