At a wreath laying ceremony on Tuesday, honouring the 69th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said Slovaks should lose their “perennial self-underestimation” and instead be proud of what they achieved. He added that Slovaks tend to forget the international importance of the uprising.
“We're unable to stand tall and show our worth to the whole of Europe. Despite being a small nation, we have made a significant impact as part of the coalition which fought against Hitler," said Fico, adding that Slovaks have a duty to rid themselves of prejudices and bias against historical figures and view their actions in a just and true light. “We need to put our inappropriate humility aside and tell the truth about the deeds and actions of our nation, when the fate of Europe was at stake,” Fico added. Other attendees to the ceremony were SDKU-DS member of parliament and Bratislava regional governor Pavol Frešo, who said that knowledge about the national uprising must be passed on to the younger generation, adding that, “Freedom and democracy is not free and sometimes it’s necessary to sacrifice one’s life for it. Only when we pass such enlightenment on to the young will all the sacrifices of the SNP not have been made in vain.” Milan Ftáčnik, Bratislava’s mayor explained his view that young people act as if the deaths didn't account for anything. “All it takes is to press a button on the computer and the hero is back on his feet. All it takes is to get shot at paintball and nothing happens to me, it just hurts slightly. However, death doesn't hurt a little, death hurts a lot; yet how are we supposed to explain this to our young people in a way that this wouldn't be just two pages in a history textbook?" stated Ftáčnik.
