Regardless of how you feel about individual questions in the upcoming referendum on the definition of what constitutes family, it is important to have a certain amount of respect towards this instrument of direct democracy, Interior Minister and Smer-SD vice-chair Robert Kaliňák has told tablet.tv in an interview. "I'm a politician and man who honours the traditions that we promoted in 1989 [in the Velvet Revolution] and, from this point of view, it is my duty to take part in the referendum", said Kaliňák when asked whether or not he would exercise his franchise. "In the future, there might be a referendum about various key issues for the Slovak Republic.
Leaders of Roma parties on the other hand are largely refraining from urging Roma to take part in the same referendum. By and large, the party leaders believe that there are more important issues than those covered by the referendum, which will concern issues such as the status of marriage as a unique bond between a man and a woman, the right of same-sex couples to adopt and raise children and the right of parents to decide whether or not their children should attend classes dealing with sex education and euthanasia. "As I appreciate the concept of the referendum, I'll take part in it, but whether everybody else takes part in it or not is their own personal decision in my view", said Government Proxy for Roma Communities Peter Pollák. Although the issue of the family as such is of importance, there are more pressing issues vis-a-vis the Roma community than the referendum's questions, he said. Roma Party Union in Slovakia (SRUS) chairman Frantisek Tanko echoed Pollak's view. "Poverty and the employment levels of Roma are certainly more pressing issues", he said. Tanko and Roma Coalition Party chairman (SRK) Gejza Adam both said that they won't encourage Roma to express their views in the referendum. Adam went on to express scepticism as to the Roma's interest in the referendum. "They're not interested in it at all", said Adam. Roma Initiative of Slovakia (RIS) leader Vaclav Kappel is of a different opinion, however. He'll urge the Roma to participate in the referendum. "I'm planning to mobilise our members both in person and by phone", he said.
The Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák continued with his thoughts on the changing face of Europe. "Ten years ago, we'd never have expected that such a deep economic crisis could ever hit Europe. Five years ago, we'd never have guessed that a military conflict would occur on our eastern borders and that someone would massacre the whole editorial staff of a satirical weekly. Older viewers may still remember the [socialist-era] Roháč magazine. The notion of having someone take out their frustrations or carry out vengeance on a humoristic magazine would have been absurd back then", he said. European countries attempt to prepare for situations such as the one that happened in the case of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last week, although that's not always possible. "I believe that the French security forces are doing their utmost in their efforts to protect the country from terrorism. According to my information, they've managed to prevent a couple of attacks. Unfortunately, however, prevention in this sphere can never be up to 100 percent", said Kaliňák. "If someone, against all common sense, opts to carry out such a massacre, it's not always possible to foresee it. After all, we've been confronted with a similar situation, though not with respect to terrorism. I'm talking about [a lone-gunman shooting spree in] Devínska Nova Ves [in Bratislava], where evaluating certain signs in advance would have been next to impossible". According to Kaliňák, Slovakia along with the other Visegrad Four states (the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) is among the countries with lowest risk in terms of radical Islamic terrorism.
