Slovak News Back to the news
Svatopluk Equestrian Statue to Remain in Place
Wednesday 22 September 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, September 22 (TASR) - Parliamentary Chairman Richard Sulik, who earlier this year initiated a commission to judge the wisdom of having the 'King' Svatopluk equestrian statue in the courtyard of Bratislava Castle, announced his decision on Wednesday to leave the statue in place.
Sulik said that the statue will remain in place at least until the completion of the castle's ongoing refurbishment – a process which could be set back by the commission-recommended transfer of the statue to another site on the castle's grounds, plus the statue could be harmed while being moved.
"For the time being, I don't see any point in moving the statue," said Sulik, adding that he expects the heated debate over the equestrian statue to die down even though his decision will not be universally accepted.
The statue will be left in place on the condition that the double-cross on the ruler's shield (reminiscent of the fascist wartime Hlinka Guard) will be altered by sculptor Jan Kulich to adhere to the Slovak double-cross (also appearing on the Slovak flag) and the text that Svatopluk was a ruler of ancient Slovaks will be replaced with 'Svatopluk' and the years of his reign.
[Svatopluk is described as a Slovak ruler, when in fact a separate Slovak identity didn't emerge until around two centuries after his death. - ed. note]
Dusan Jarjabek, Smer-SD MP instrumental in seeing the Svatopluk statue installed at Bratislava Castle, expressed his pleasure that the statue simply remains in place. "Other things are a matter of copyrights and historians which I do not want to meddle into," he said.
He noted however that ancient Slovaks clearly did exist and had their own king. It is therefore a shame that somebody takes exception to the inscription in the statue's pedestal mentioning ancient Slovaks. "Not only us, but also our children were taught about them in one way or another," he said.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
