Kery Welcomes Raising of Issue of Extremism, but Not Fan of Reducing Sentences

(STVR, 'Sobotne dialogy', 17 January) Speaking on STVR's politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues), MP Marian Kery (Smer-SD) said that he's glad that the issue of extremism will be raised thanks to the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS); however, he isn't any fan of reducing sentences for extremist crimes. Kery said this in reaction to a draft amendment to the Penal Code submitted by SNS, which seeks lower criminal penalties for acts of extremism. He said that the issue will be the subject of debate within the coalition. "I am very happy that the issue of extremism will be raised thanks to the coalition partner, SNS. Let me add that I'm not any fan of reducing sentences for extremism. However, the problem lies elsewhere. We witnessed penal law being misused in a fight against political opponents in 2020-2023. I do mind that almost anything can be hidden behind the term extremism today and that politicians or people having a different opinion than the mainstream one are labelled extremists," stated Kery. His opponent on the show, opposition MP Juraj Krupa (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) thinks that the governing coalition is making changes to penal policy that could help its close people. He pointed out that the proposed change was opposed by Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka, churches and various organisations. He also criticised other steps and decisions made by the coalition in the area of ​​the penal law. The two politicians also dealt with the issue of the local and regional elections due to be held this autumn. Kery said that he has no ambition to run for the post of the Nitra region governor. Smer-SD will either support current Nitra region governor Branislav Becik, or it will come up with its own candidate. "Everything will depend on whether we manage to reach some kind of agreement," he said. Meanwhile, Krupa believes that SaS's candidate for the Bratislava region governor Juraj Droba will re-run for the post. He said that SaS would also support current Bratislava mayor Matus Vallo in the elections if they run in a joint coalition. Kery and Krupa also commented on US President Donald Trump's intention to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. In this context, Krupa spoke about a period of uncertainty stemming from the rise to power of populists, autocrats and admirers of dictatorships. He therefore stressed a need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which is a military conflict. According to Kery a forcible annexation of Greenland would be a gross violation of international law. He stressed that this must be rejected. However, he regrets that some politicians have a selective approach to non-compliance with international law. "Not only the issue of Greenland, but also Venezuela, Iran, Ukraine are cases of non-compliance with international law," he added. ko