Banská Bystrica Region’s Governor Marian Kotleba, leader of the small far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (¼SNS), has rejected to sign an approved subsidy of about €7,000 granted to a cultural project against extremism in Slovak society. Kotleba, who surprisingly won the regional governor’s post in 2013, is a supporter of the Nazi-
sponsored wartime Slovak state. He organized protests against immigrants in reaction to the refugee crisis this year, and he organized marches against Romanies in the previous years. The Slovak Culture Ministry granted the subsidy to the puppet theater at the Crossroads (Na Rázcestí) from Banská Bystrica, central Slovakia, for a project promoting human rights and fighting xenophobia and racism. The project focuses on secondary school students and the Amnesty International organization participates in it. The theater cannot get the subsidy without Kotleba’s consent.
Milan Uhrík, head of the regional office, said political training organised by foreign NGOs at schools and elsewhere should not be financially subsidized by the region. “The performances would be co-organized by the Amnesty International organization that repeatedly wilfully marked Slovaks as extremists over alleged discrimination against gypsies,” Uhrík said. The Crossroads theater announced that it wants to carry out the project anyway and it started a fundraising campaign for its support. Along with other artist groups from central Slovakia, the theater issued a written statement labeling the steps taken by the regional authorities headed by Kotleba a new phenome-non of censorship. This summer, Kotleba’s office refused to provide a subsidy to a festival organised by a local dance theater. After being appointed the governor, Kotle-ba removed from the regional office building the EU flag, which he called “an occupational blue rag.” He labeled NATO a terrorist organization.