Martin, 29 October (TASR) – A bust of General Milan Rastislav Stefanik was unveiled on Thursday in the Avenue of National Figures, in front of the headquarters of national heritage institution Matica Slovenska in Martin (Zilina region).
The commemorative event, organised by Matica Slovenska in collaboration with the Slovak Towns and Villages Association on the eve of the 108th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of the Slovak Nation, was attended by Parliamentary Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) and Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura.
The Slovak House chair described Stefanik as a man who was a staunch champion of the Slovak nation, but who also made an equally significant contribution to the formation of Czechoslovakia. “He was a man who couldn’t be confined by the borders of a single country, nor by the boundaries of a single profession. Stefanik didn’t wait for the conditions to arise for his grand vision to be realised; instead, he helped to create those conditions himself,” he emphasised.
Rasi pointed out that, along with Tomas Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard Benes, Stefanik managed to convince the world’s great powers that the Czechs and Slovaks had the right to their own state. “Stefanik wasn’t merely a man of grand ideas, however, but a man of action. He played a key role in building the Czechoslovak Legions even before Czechoslovakia came into existence on 28 October 1918,” added Rasi.
Okamura regards Stefanik as one of the most significant figures in the shared history of the two countries. “He was a man of extraordinary vision, courage and deeds. He was a scientist, a diplomat, a soldier, but above all a patriot who understood that freedom can’t be taken for granted and that we must fight for it politically, but also bearing arms,” he said.
The Czech House chair noted that the joint republic has no longer existed for more than 30 years. “But the most precious thing that it left us endures. Our shared history, the closeness of our languages, our culture, mutual respect and – I must say personally – our brotherhood,” remarked Okamura, pointing out that Stefanik didn’t agree with Masaryk and Benes on everything and that they held differing views on certain matters. “This is one of the greatest lessons to be learnt from their legacy. We don’t have to agree on everything in order to achieve great things together,” he stated.
