Professor Miroslav Kusy is no longer a member of the Government Council for Human Rights, Ethnic Minorities and Gender Equality. Kusy resigned due to his personal reservations towards Professor Pavol Mešťan, who was appointed as a member of the council by Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak on 13 November.
“It's ridiculous for me that he was appointed as a member of this particular council. It is as though a vegetarian association accepted a carnivore. It seems unacceptable to me,” said Kusy, referring to the fact that Mestan was the main ideologue of the Slovak Communist Party after 1968. He is also known for his active fight against Charter 77, which drew attention to human rights violations in the country. “At one period, I was the only chartist in Slovakia and he basically focused all of his work against me. Because of him I was often summoned to the Communist secret service the StB, interrogated and finally put in prison,” explained Kusy. The human rights council respected his decision. “Miroslav Lajcak will choose a new member for the vacant seat from the nominations from Government and civil society representatives in the Board of the Government,” said head of the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry press department Peter Susko about what will happen next.
