SaS Urges President to Oppose Plan to Reinstate Javorina Military Training Area

Levoca, 6 July (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has urged President Peter Pellegrini to oppose, as commander-in-chief of the Slovak Armed Forces, the restoration of Javorina military district (Presov region), SaS leader Branislav Groehling told a press conference on Monday, adding that dozens of residents from the Spis, Saris and Zamagurie areas have been contacting the party, shocked by the Defence Ministry's plan. Restitution claimants are also against the plan, urging the ministry to engage in a dialogue. Furthermore, they reject any unilateral steps by the ministry, such as pressure to swap or sell land. A petition launched by SaS against restoring the military training area has so far been signed by some 5,000 people. "We fundamentally disagree with this plan, and we'll do our best to prevent it from happening. People in eastern Slovakia deserve to know whether the president agrees that they should lose what they've been building up for years," said Groehling. When the military training area was set up in 1952, the villages of Lubicke Kupele, Blazov, Dvorce and Ruskinovce were evacuated by force, with local people losing their homes and property. It was abolished in 2011. "Instead of meeting the public or mayors, [Defence] Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) simply flew over the area in a helicopter. If he says the project will take 15 years to complete, it's clear that this isn't a short-term solution but the construction of a military base," said SaS MP Vladimir Ledecky. He added that he's asked the mayors of Kezmarok, Levoca, Sabinov, Stara Lubovna, Poprad and Spisska Nova Ves to adopt resolutions against the project, noting that some of them have already done so, including Presov region council and the Towns and Villages Association in the Spis area. In early June, at a meeting of the House defence and security committee, Kalinak confirmed the plan to reinstate Javorina military district, arguing that the Slovak Armed Forces need a new training area. He also ruled out any plans to expropriate land, but noted that the ministry hopes to reach agreements with thousands of landowners over the next three years. jrg/df