Tragic Death of Milan Rastislav Stefanik Commemorated on Bradlo Hill

Brezova pod Bradlom, May 4 (TASR) - The 105th anniversary of the tragic death of General Milan Rastislav Stefanik was commemorated with the flyover of helicopters, the Slovak anthem, the laying of wreaths and several speeches delivered on the Bradlo hill above the town of Brezova pod Bradlom (Trencin region) on Saturday. Several hundreds of people, including Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and president-elect Peter Pellegrini (Voice-SD) took part in the commemorative event held at Stefanik's monument. Fico in his speech underlined that the foundation stone of the monument was laid 100 years ago. "Our political Slovak sea is so ripply that we need a lighthouse. We need a monument we can lean on in these difficult situations and gain self-confidence here," stated Fico. He stressed that even when Stefanik was abroad, he still had Slovakia and a joint state with the Czechs on his mind. "We can rightfully call him the greatest Slovak of all time," noted the premier. Pellegrini drew attention to the political, educational, strategic and diplomatic dimensions of Stefanik. "Stefanik's message is clear: let's always proudly defend and promote our national interests so that no one else has to do it instead of us. That's the only way how we can build respect among partners around the world," he said. A polarised society, fighting against itself, has no chance of keeping up with the world, stated Pellegrini. Parliamentary Vice-chair Lubos Blaha (Smer-SD), Czech Ambassador to Slovakia Rudolf Jindrak, French Ambassador to Slovakia Pascal Le Deunff and Italian Ambassador to Slovakia Catherine Flumiani delivered speeches as well. General Milan Rastislav Stefanik was a distinguished Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer, who was instrumental to the process of forming the first Czechoslovakia in 1918 and also served as its first minister of war. Stefanik died on May 4, 1919 in a tragic plane crash while landing near Bratislava. He was buried together with the Italian aviators at the monument on the Bradlo hill, which was granted the status of national cultural monument in 1968. ko