Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Grigorij Mesežnikov: National Populism in Slovakia - Defining the Character of the State and Interpreting Select Historic Events
National Populism in Slovakia... statehood, unjustified attacks against emergence and existence of the state, its territorial integrity and democratic constitutional system”.6 Representatives of national-populist parties saw threats to Slovak statehood even in attempts to provide critical information on Slovakia’s internal situation abroad. For instance, MP Dušan Slobodník (HZDS) accused domestic political opposition and independent media that their criticism of government, particularly “criticism insidiously communicated abroad is an attempt to destroy Slovak statehood”.7 SNS Chairman Ján Slota expanded the list of people potentially targeted by the act on the protection of the republic to include representatives of Hungarian political parties in Slovakia and “other high representatives of Slovak politics” who “very often express themselves in a way that has nothing to do with the fact that they would have a positive relation to the state”.8 During a party meeting in April 1996, one of HZDS prominent representatives Augustín Marián Húska served a thorough idea about the values on which the HZDS based its activities when building the new state following its emergence in 1993. In his speech, Húska enumerated “seven virtues” of the HZDS that had allegedly predetermined its success in building Slovakia anew. According to him, they included “brilliant improvisation”, “complex providence and program creativity”, “ability to capitalize on intergeneration synergy”, “rootedness in national identity”, “rootedness in spiritual experience”, “ability to forge social solidarity” and “ability to forge Slovakia’s capital-generation layer”9. The said list of ‘virtues’ was completely free of any references to values that would indicate orientation on developing the state’s democratic character. According to Húska, the independent Slovak Republic emerged as an “unwanted child of superpowers” and the West’s criticism of Slovakia’s internal situation had to do with a thousand year-old struggle over the important space in the centre of Europe.10 HZDS Chairman Mečiar repeatedly called for social unity (“unification”) that according to him entailed “especially acknowledging the basic needs of the nation and state we live in and mutually respecting these interests everywhere”." In 1997, Mečiar said that “state interests prevail over interests of parties, groups and persons; they must be complied with and furthered everywhere in the world”.12 The SNS emphasized that Slovakia’s independent statehood should be guided by its own original understanding of democracy as opposed to concepts imported from abroad. On the occasion of the 7,h anniversary of overthrowing the communist regime, SNS Vice-Chairperson Anna Malíková declared: “The meaning of November 89 is to preserve free, critical and - most of all - original way of thinking so that we are able to prevent others 47
