Moscow Condemns Extremism of Slovak Far-right Party

The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry has made statements in its annual report critical of Slovakia's far-right People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS), led by Marian Kotleba. The report, which was released on May 6, monitors the propagation of Nazism, neo-Nazism, racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. The report also praises the fact that state bodies in Slovakia frequently commemorate the victims of WW2 in a dignified fashion, with official state representatives laying wreaths on graves and memorials of Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the fight against fascism. Kotleba's People's Party Our Slovakia is mentioned in the document as the only registered political party in Slovakia openly promoting extremist ideas with elements of racial hatred and anti-Roma rhetoric in particular. The report notes that Kotleba's party espouses national socialism and glorifies the pro-fascist WW2 Slovak state and its officials, including former president Jozef Tiso (1939-45), who was given a death sentence after the end of the war.