Premier: Incident in Serbia Has Nothing to Do with Status of Slovak Minority

Bratislava, 11 August (TASR) - The incident from the town of Backi Petrovac is a purely domestic political matter of sovereign Serbia and has nothing to do with the status of the Slovak national minority, to which the Slovak government, in cooperation with the Serbian one, is paying special attention, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said on a social network in connection with the weekend incident at the Slovak National Festivities, where an exhibition of photographs documenting student protests in Serbia was attacked. "The Serbian government deserves our thanks for its approach to Slovaks living in Serbia. As usual, the clever-clever liberals and progressives ignore objective information, interfere in the affairs of sovereign Serbia and contribute to the further division of the people," said the prime minister in response to the opposition's criticism of the incident. Fico explained that, as prime minister, he had received detailed information about the event that occurred during the festivities. "The information confirms that the citizens of Serbia of Slovak nationality, like other citizens of Serbia, are politically divided into several camps. Different views on government and opposition policies in Serbia create room for political conflicts of different scale and intensity. We don't have to go far for examples, because a similar situation exists in Slovakia," he stated. The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) parties criticised the Slovak government for its inaction in the case of the weekend incident at the Slovak National Festivities in the Serbian town of Backi Petrovac in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. SaS demands that the government act immediately and summon the Serbian ambassador, who should explain all the circumstances and how the investigation is proceeding. An attack on an exhibition of photographs documenting student protests in Serbia took place at the Slovak National Festivities in Backi Petrovac on Saturday (9 August). The exhibition was organised by the Slovak minority. The conflict, including skirmishes, took place between members of President Aleksandar Vucic's governing Serbian Progressive Party and citizens who had prepared an exhibition of photographs of the anti-government protests. During the clash, the photographs on display were damaged and several people sustained minor injuries. am/mcs