Slovak PM, Foreign Minister Say Incidents in Backi Petrovac Are Serbia’s Internal Matter

Slovakian Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (BETAPHOTO/Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar has said that the Slovak minority in Bački Petrovac have politicized the Slovak National Festivities by exhibiting photos of anti-government protests in Serbia, triggering a conflict with pro-government locals, according to Slovak media.

“It is obvious that politicization has crossed also beyond Slovakia’a borders,” Blanar said, adding that he did not intend to interfere into Serbia’s internal political affairs. 

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has described the event in Backi Petrovac as an entirely internal political matter of sovereign Serbia and has nothing to do with the position of the Slovak national minority, which is paid special attention by the Slovak government, in cooperation with the Serbian government.

“It is obvious that Serbian citizens of Slovak nationality, similarly to other Serbia’s citizens, are politically divided into several camps. Different views on government and opposition policies in Serbia have created space for political conflicts of different scope and intensity. We do not have to look far for examples, because the situation is similar in Slovakia,” Fico said.

A one-day exhibition, conceived to complement the Slovak National Festivities, was organized by an informal group of citizens - Slovaks from Bačka, Banat and Srem, who had been collecting photos from protests across Vojvodina over the past nine months.