“Don't worry and don't steal”

“Don't worry and don't steal”

"Don't worry and don't steal" were the words of Czech Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, first President of Czechoslovakia, which Slovak President Andrej Kiska used to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia on Sunday. Kiska took part in a discussion on the Public Broadcaster RTVS with the Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko and Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini. Moreover, these Slovak top constitutional officials agreed that another of Masaryk's slogans "Democracy must be rooted in decency" has universal validity even in the contemporary era.

Celebrations of the 100th anniversary took place all over both countries. The highlight was a military parade in Prague attended by Slovak and Czech leading politicians. According to the event organisers, the military parade was the largest in the history of the modern Czech Republic. Also present were guards of honour from Slovakia, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy.

"Slovaks during the times of the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) were not marginalized, together with Czechs they were a state-forming nation," said political scientist Tomáš Jahelka of the Faculty of Arts at Trnava University. He also added that "it is important to realize that before the formation of Czechoslovakia, there was actually no Slovak school system, only Hungarian was spoken as an official language, and there was practically no Slovak intelligentsia and qualified people for state service."

The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry evaluates Czechoslovakia as a good and successful project in spite of various historical turnovers. "Most of all, it provided Slovaks with space for full-featured development from being a non-free nation at the beginning of the 20th century to becoming a successful independent state, fully respected in the world," read the statement of the Foreign Ministry.

Moreover, on Tuesday October 30, Slovaks will also commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signature of the Martin Declaration or the Declaration of the Slovak nation. For more on these topics tune in to Radio Slovakia International throughout this week.

Mojmir Prochazka, Photo: TASR

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