Slovakia ultra-right leader visits Syria, backs Assad regime in war against 'Zionists'
Slovakia ultra-right leader visits Syria, backs Assad regime in war against 'Zionists'
Syrian state media have reported that Marian Kotleba, leader of the far-right People's Party-Our Slovakia, has given his support to Bashar al-Assad's regime.
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Marian Kotleba has sung the praises of Bashar al-Assad's regime [Getty]
The leader of a Slovakian political party known for its use if neo-Nazi symbols and far-right policies, has voiced his support for the Syrian regime after a visit to the war-torn country earlier this month.
Marian Kotleba - who heads the extreme-right People's Party-Our Slovakia - said on Monday that Bashar al-Assad's government faces an international conspiracy due to its supposed opposition to "the global criminal Zionist regime" - likely referring to Israel - according to Syrian state media.
"[Syria is] preventing it from implementing its schemes of imposing hegemony on the region," SANA news said, paraphrasing Kotleba.
The Slovak far-right leader visited Syria earlier this month as part of a European parliament delegation, touring regime-controlled areas such as Aleppo.
The visit was hailed by the Syrian regime and promoted by state media.
Kotleba issued a statement on his return home from Syria, blaming "Zionism" for the war.
Syria's war erupted in 2011 after the regime cracked down on peaceful protests with more than 500,000 people killed, the vast majority civilians from regime bombing.
"I watched the acts of destruction and sabotage perpetrated by Zionism and its tools of terrorists and this enhanced his conviction with regard to the attempts of Zionism to impose hegemony on the region and the world," SANA reported him saying.
Kotleba once publically embraced the imagery and policies of the Nazi-affiliated Second World War militia Hlinka Guard, which played a key role in the liquidation of Slovakia's Jewish population.
Dropping his Hlinka Guard uniform for a brown suit, Kotleba is still accused of holding the same extreme-right principles as Slovakia's war-time fascist government, responsible for the mass murder of Jews and Roma.
The People's Party-Our Slovakia has 14 seats in Slovakia parliament and still repeatedly attacks another victim of the Nazis, the Roma, in their propaganda.
Marian Kotleba - who heads the extreme-right People's Party-Our Slovakia - said on Monday that Bashar al-Assad's government faces an international conspiracy due to its supposed opposition to "the global criminal Zionist regime" - likely referring to Israel - according to Syrian state media.
"[Syria is] preventing it from implementing its schemes of imposing hegemony on the region," SANA news said, paraphrasing Kotleba.
The Slovak far-right leader visited Syria earlier this month as part of a European parliament delegation, touring regime-controlled areas such as Aleppo.
The visit was hailed by the Syrian regime and promoted by state media.
Kotleba issued a statement on his return home from Syria, blaming "Zionism" for the war.
Syria's war erupted in 2011 after the regime cracked down on peaceful protests with more than 500,000 people killed, the vast majority civilians from regime bombing.
"I watched the acts of destruction and sabotage perpetrated by Zionism and its tools of terrorists and this enhanced his conviction with regard to the attempts of Zionism to impose hegemony on the region and the world," SANA reported him saying.
Kotleba once publically embraced the imagery and policies of the Nazi-affiliated Second World War militia Hlinka Guard, which played a key role in the liquidation of Slovakia's Jewish population.
Dropping his Hlinka Guard uniform for a brown suit, Kotleba is still accused of holding the same extreme-right principles as Slovakia's war-time fascist government, responsible for the mass murder of Jews and Roma.
The People's Party-Our Slovakia has 14 seats in Slovakia parliament and still repeatedly attacks another victim of the Nazis, the Roma, in their propaganda.
Assad commands strong support from Europe's fringe far-left and far-right movements.
Other far-right figures who have visited Assad's Syria during the seven-year war include former British National Party leader Nick Griffin.
Other far-right figures who have visited Assad's Syria during the seven-year war include former British National Party leader Nick Griffin.
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