Tribute to Štefánik

Prime Minister Robert Fico took part in a ceremony commemorating the tragic death of statesman Milan Rastislav Štefánik on May 4, 1919. "Štefánik is a hugely inspiring person for me," said Fico, adding that he's always been motivated by Štefánik's motto 'I'll fight my way through, because I want to break through'. Widely regarded as one of the most significant figures of Slovakia's modern history, Štefánik was born in 1880 in Košariská, west Slovakia, and died in a plane crash in Ivanka pri Dunaji in 1919. He was an outstanding astronomer, military pilot, French military general and one of the first Slovaks who ascended Mont Blanc several times. Most notably, he was instrumental in establishing Czechoslovakia in 1918 along with the country's first president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and the second president Edvard Beneš.