March 11th, 2010

Over 1,000 stage demo in Bratislava against Slovak act

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More than 1,000 people staged a demonstration against the Slovak patriotism act outside the president’s palace in Bratislava on Wednesday afternoon.

The crowd, mostly comprised of young people, demanded that President Ivan Gasparovic rejects and veto the act that was passed last week. Under the new law all Slovak schools will be obliged to play the national anthem at the start of every week and hang national symbols in all classrooms.

Several dozen people meanwhile demonstrated favour of the act. Police separated the two crowds and no incidents occurred.

Gasparovic’s spokesman Marek Trubac said the president will study the act before making a decision.

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6 Comments

  1. isti says:
    March 11, 2010 at 9:36 pm

    Actually, it’s called “Pozsony” or “Presburg”.

  2. Viking says:
    March 11, 2010 at 10:43 pm

    Under the new law all schools will be obliged to play the national anthem at the start of every week and hang national symbols in all classrooms
    —
    Yes, Jobbik will never demand this…

  3. Business in Bratislava says:
    March 30, 2010 at 9:16 pm

    Here is a small guide about Companies in Bratislava I hope
    you like.

  4. Erik says:
    March 30, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    That’s the best inappropriate spam I’ve seen since a
    Google ad for an ax next to a store about an ax
    murder.

  5. Elle says:
    March 30, 2010 at 9:53 pm

    Erik, you are a honey. How to you manage to retain a sense of fun in the ‘Polish Parliament’ of your making?

  6. Cináed says:
    March 31, 2010 at 7:19 am

    I’m assuming there must be more to this patriotism act than just playing the national anthem and displaying national symbols. (?) When I was at school we sang the national anthem on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while the national flag was raised, and sang God Save the Queen on Tuesday and Thursday while the state flag was raised. We also had a picture of the Queen and the current Prime Minister in our main classroom. I didn’t think it was that big a deal. Ok, so I know particularly in Central Europe these days that nationalist tensions are increasing so there might be more to this than meets the eye, but I don’t really see the problem with a country having its own national anthem played in schools.