Kosariska: Gajdos Commemorates Milan Rastislav Stefanik's Birthday

Kosariska, July 21 (TASR) - The 138th anniversary of Milan Rastislav Stefanik's birthday was marked in his native village of Kosariska on Saturday afternoon, with the event starting in front of his native house by laying wreaths and with Defence Minister Peter Gajdos (Slovak National Party/SNS) in attendance. Gajdos said he enjoyed the high participation of both adults and youth. "If we take a closer look at Milan Rastislav Stefanik"s creed 'Believe, love, work', we would hardly find a greater life inspiration for today's turbulent times, because only those, who believe that they can change things in the state for better, love their native country and work for the benefit of society, can really be beneficial to society," he said, noting that Stefanik was such a person. He considers him to be the greatest Slovak who fought for the independent state of the Slovaks and Czechs. "General Stefanik has sacrificed virtually all his life to the struggle for the freedom of his nation. So, we should remind his message even more intensely at times when it seems that freedom is a matter of course," stressed Gajdos, adding that the defence of the state should be first of all, a matter of honour for every single citizen. He added that raising the interest of the younger generation in defending the homeland is one of the priorities of the Defence Ministry. Milan Rastislav Stefanik was born on July 21, 1880 in Kosariska. He died tragically in a plane crash in Ivanka pri Dunaji (Bratislava region) on his way to the homeland on May 4, 1919. am