A rainbow flag with the national emblem that was used by some participants in the Rainbow Pride march last Saturday angered some government politicians. Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba even filed a criminal complaint for defamation of state symbols. The organisers of the march wanted to use the flag to remind the Slovak people that they are also part of society.
"If this is not a defamation of the national flag, then nothing is probably a defamation," Taraba said in a statement. Criminal law expert Tomáš Strémy explains that the crime of defamation of state symbols does not exist.
"There may be people who felt that this was some kind of devaluation of a national symbol. But it was not meant that way at all. It is a symbolic flag that was meant to suggest that Slovakia is a country for all people without distinction," explained historian and ethnologist Katarína Nádaská.
"That flag is not brand new. We have used it in previous years. It's all the more surprising that it has attracted attention today. But it only confirms that the purpose is not to protect the Slovak flag, but rather to arouse passions on social networks," Martin Macko, co-organiser of the Rainbow Pride march in Bratislava, stated.
SNS is preparing a new law regarding this issue. Katarína Nádaská pointed out that the law is already in force on state and government buildings. She expects that it will be tightened and no other flag will be given space apart from the Slovak and European flags.
TASR
