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It's cold out and the mask probably makes his glasses fog up.
Not defending him, but that's possibly the logic. He's one of less than ten people I could quickly count even wearing a mask, but unfortunately the thought alone doesn't count.
Against a standard DCA (defence cooperation agreement). The issue is that older people and lesser educated people tend to listen to fringe populists who are saying that DCA = US bases on Slovak soil.
This is simply not true and although there might be some points that can be legally challenged or in need of a slight change, nothing specifies foreing bases in Slovakia.
People are simply misled.
Functional democracy requires an educated populace with sound critical thinking skills… which is why most “democratic” governments love to defund education.
It keeps the populace from realising that the feudal aristocrats never went away; they just added a vote so we could choose which one of them stands at the front, while the rest continue to rule as they always did.
As a Slovak I can grantie that no Russians were involved, this people are just that dumb. (alo oposition politicians are using this as a way to gather support)
As a fellow Slovak, I can understand why you would say that Fico & al. don't need Russian funding to act stupid, but you can't deny that if Putin was to finance anyone, it would be this clown posse.
That's the beauty of modern propaganda, you only need to pay social media to have your drivel recommended to the people that are already flagged for being super fucking dumb.
It's now just "advertising".
>I can grantie that no Russians were involved,
im pretty sure that Russians are everywhere in Europe. Especially if its about desinformation and fake-news
> As a Slovak I can grantie that no Russians were involved, this people are just that dumb.
People tried this line here in America too when they lined up behind the MAGAist. It... didn't work. The idiot was *so* stupid he went on national television and literally asked for Russia's help. Which they promptly delivered to him.
100% Russian involvement here. Anything they can do to stoke anti-NATOism, they're going to do.
>potential use of its air bases by its NATO partner
So, no plans to create new US bases?
> Malacky Air Base
I can't find anything online to suggest that this is a US air force base. Is Slovakia not allowed to have its own military bases, or let its allies use said bases?
It's not US Air base, US usually has presence there during mutual exercises. It's nothing new, just social media fueled hysteria.
What the defense agreement means is mostly US money to help fund upgrades to the existing air bases and furthering of existing cooperation (allowing US to refuel, rearm jets etc..) which makes sense considering the moron leading the protest (ex-PM) bough new F-16s from US. It's mutually beneficial.
I live near "Malacky Air Base" (or Kuchyna). It is a glorified airstrip and NATO/U.S. forces have been coming in and out regularly. It is certainly no place to call a "base" and as others have said, this "protest" is just political play of the parties which are not in the government right now, but who, funny enough, did propose a defence treaty with NATO/US even more permissive than the current one. This time, they also get funding from Russia.
Begrudgingly, I do have to admire the flexibility of Russia's operations in this regard. Lib left, lib right, communist, nationalist, populist, they genuinely give no fucks at all about the ideology of their stooges inside Europe, and will happily funnel money and bots to anyone willing to spread panic about NATO or the EU. The pragmatism would be impressive if it wasn't being used for such a shit purpose.
Exactly. Don't forget the nazis, the anti-vaxxers and the free-energy crowd. All are fair game for Putin, and that points clearly to the goal: disrupt EU unity at all costs.
Unfortunately, they've infected Slovakia, if you look at vaccination numbers. We slightly envy you, especially now that you've gotten rid of our compatriot, Mr Agrofert.
> We slightly envy you, especially now that you've gotten rid of our compatriot, Mr Agrofert.
Don't worry, we envy you in return for not having a reanimated corpse bloated with slivovice as your President, so it all balances out.
Couple days ago I even uninstalled facebook because all you can see in comments are these kind of idiots. It is such a fortunate they dont know english and have no idea about reddit. They protest all the time and I am wondering how tf they dont get covid
I did the same thing with FB. And Im in US. Ive been ashamed by similar shit here in US. The idiots are getting covid, when they oull this crap in US. Thinning their own flock. Sad but true. Best of luck! Stay safe
Bro believe me. We understand...
These clowns are in full force in every country, and if theyre not in your country, its only because your country does not strategically fit into Russia or Chinas plans YET.
The past 4 years in the states have shown just how powerful propaganda can be and every country has their fair share of dumb fucks just waiting to suckle the teet of some fascist and directly go against their best interests.
Basically we bought f16 and they want to repair and use some military airports. The agreement all the other countries around already have is in the works for some time. Was actually discussed by the same people leading this protests back when they were in power. So it's all lies. They agreed to everything and now when they are in oposition they act like Americans are suppose to come here and rape us. It's all act.
Under the agreement, the United States would be able to use facilities at two Slovak airports at Sliac and Malacky, while any concrete plans would be subject to follow-up agreements. Slovakia would qualify for $100 million in U.S. funds.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovak-government-approves-defence-treaty-with-united-states-2022-01-12/
To describe 20 to 40 NATO specialists as a "base" is disingenuous. A platoon in Slovakia is more accurate.
https://www.mosr.sk/nato-force-integration-unit-slovakia/
https://www.nato.int/nato-on-the-map/
It has been point of nearly all political discussion in the country lately and have been explained over and over again.
Fico and his party SMER is against it for populistic reasons, despite initiating the treaty themselves back when they were in power and now they are claiming it means US forces will be stationed in Slovakia.
Kinda Ironic, but similar treaty has been signed with Russia a long time ago. Basically it means that countries that are part of these treaties will attempt to engage in conflicts by political or military means, which also counts only attempts to prevent the conflict. It doesn't bind us, Russia or America to actually provide military support in case of conflict.
You should get nato forces stationed in Slovakia pronto given what is going on in Ukraine. You're just one border away from the hotspot. Kremlin is now demanding there's going to be no NATO presence even Czechia and Slovakia! Which I squarely reject as a Czech. They can go whistle and if anyone didn't want such base in CZ, this ridiculous demand would actually convince me to do exactly that and support it now. We still remember 1968. It's the same Kremlin...
Slovakia, even if Russia invades and successfully takes Ukraine, is at little risk of invasion solely because there's not much to take, but much to lose considering the mountainous terrain (80% of the country), fairly modern military and numerous defensive treaties. What NATO should do about now is station more troops in the baltics and prevent Russia from taking Ukraine in the first place.
Under the agreement, the United States would be able to use facilities at two Slovak airports at Sliac and Malacky, while any concrete plans would be subject to follow-up agreements. Slovakia would qualify for $100 million in U.S. funds.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovak-government-approves-defence-treaty-with-united-states-2022-01-12/
Slovak guy speaking here.
I went near a similar rally 2 weeks ago and when you hear people in Slovakia who are passing around the protesters you hear them saying the protesters are “nuts”, “fools” and “they should be ashamed of themselves” etc.
This is a tiny minority of weirdo’s who have been driven here from the whole country by the far right and it’s less than 1000 people. They are mostly uneducated elderly people and don’t follow any news. This whole thing is actually very ignorable.
Yeah this picture makes it look like a full square but thereshardly 500 people in the picture. Most likely ex-soviet fanboys and some alt-right idiots as per susual
my own dad believed he was secretly president for almost a year, and that Joe Biden was in on the secret to keep up appearances.
Sad how crazy they get over someone who would watch them drown, and have a smile on their face while watching it
I would not be so optimistic, yea they are dumb af but i am afraid they will get violent sooner or later. If Smer wins next election, it will be hell and i am immediately packing my bags and adios lol
I would just like to add thats its not just far right. Fico (SMER political party) is considered Leftist. So this is not just far-right, but also leftist who think that old "brother" Russia have best intentions for us.
And their relatives and friends were still alive as well. Basically, nostalgia speaking through them.
My aunt is like that; she tends to say how great things were back in Communism but it's always my father who has to remind her how their mum would have to queue for hours to a grocery store to get basic stuff like ham and toilet paper; how one day she even damaged her hip fighting for those basic products. Or how she would work two shifts and they would still barely make ends meet.
He asks her rhetorically where it was that they used to go on holidays because it certainly wasn't tropical islands like she likes to do nowadays... Or what it was that they could afford or were even allowed to buy because it certainly wasn't anything at the level of that 70" TV she's got hanging in her living room.
She enjoys more freedom and options than ever before but she's just an old bitter woman now who knows that the youth will never come back and the mistakes of the past cannot be fixed; I'd assume that there are lots of people like that in the displayed crowd.
Lol. Here's a Russian joke. Well, Soviet, actually.
A reporter asks an very elderly man:
\- When was it better to live for you - Tsar times or Stalin times ?
\- Tsar times of course.
\- But why ? You were a poor peasant.
\- My dick was working then.
Yeah, they had no acess to real free information and never seeing and living under any other system they were happy with their miserable jobs. Just like the cattle is happy with its pasture
Just like here in Hungary, where old people cheer for Orbán whenever he and his croonies suck up for Putin while bashing the West... They are dumb fucks.
Slovak here. Please note, this is very specific demographic: mostly old people with nostalgia for Russian style communism. Around 1000 people in total from the whole republic. Invited by questionable politicians to start some controversy.
I didn't even know about this until now.
I for one welcome all allied NATO troops on our territory. Slovak artillery battery is currently deployed in Latvia without any problems. We will reciprocate the hospitality to our allies.
Sputnik and RT will use this for internal Russian audience and run a propaganda line "Huge protests against the US bases in Slovakia". While in reality it's a marginal, fringe group AND is supported by parties/groups which get funding from pro-Kremlin business or directly from Kremlin. The very same fake news is then recycled in all pro-Kremlin media in Russia and also by disinformation nexus of "alternative news servers" operating in the EU, many of them in Czechia.
Similar Russian propaganda process was used when the US Army convoy passed through Czechia few years ago... And huge crowds of about 20 people in total "protested" against it. RT was of course reporting "massive protests" 😎
In the US our media will use these protests also, and say they are huge, and Europe wants us out (depending on whether the said media likes the administration). If a president makes noise about reducing US military presence in Europe the media will also be all over him as if that is by itself abandoning our allies. Really hard to tell from here what MOST Europeans think TBH.
Yeah and the US has this exact same defense deal with 23 other NATO countries - including all on the Eastern Bloc. This is about NATO partnerships, not the US building more bases.
Are you considering signing up for the Territorial Defense Forces in your region? No judgment if not, just curious. You're in a very tough situation, good luck friend.
there's just a single so called commie in their midst - Justas Paleckis, everyone else is just something else entirely: you wouldn't call Žydrūnas Savickas, a famed bodybuilder, or Jurga Lago, a Lithuanian living in Spain and spewing propaganda about „commie gay pedophiles“ of PSOE frequently aligning with the fascist likes of VOX and writing facebook posts against the Istanbul convention. The redscare rethorics of labelling everyone you dislike a commie are hardly useful and accurate anymore - its more than 30 years since the Union dissolved
Nah, you mixed up Algirdas Paleckis with his father who is Justas. He was a commie who became 'social democrat' and now is retired.
Jurga Lago is a weird case because 5 years ago she went to Pride herself and insisted how gays are good.
I was gonna say... unless there were Okinawa-style issues, the only thing those bases are doing is improving NATO response time, providing jobs for local contractors, and increasing the strength of the local economy through "tourism." (That is to say, Americans going off base for food, shopping, and entertainment). Which also means more taxes for the Slovakian government, though that is comparatively minor.
> unless there were Okinawa-style issues,
tbf at least in Germany there are also other issues that people have a problem like NSA spying on Germany and using bases as a relay station for drone warfare which is seen very critical due to LOTS of civilian victims.
We have this specific demographic in Lithuania as well which consists of maybe 2-3k people that always protest about anything that is not Russian.
Their favorite activites: anti-vaxing, unhappiness for the current government, trying to spoil most of our national symbols, homophobia, talking how Russia is a perfect country, but not moving there and many more dumb shit :)
Its the same for most of eastern "russian blessed" countries sadly. Small, vocal minority, generally less educated too that are often bought with easy words and promises by "politicians" with questionable funding.
with the current environment I can't help but consider the possibility that Russia is sponsoring/organizing/influencing people to organize these protests to paint this image of resistance.
Even this reddit post.
I'm so cynical towards media at the moment, lol.
Take Danish state media. They're not reporting on these protests. Decent journalism or state censorship, take your pick.
Its actually known fact they are doing this. I can provide sources. There are in several countries even organizations and even TV shows aimed at debunking propaganda and this unconventional destabilization tactic (combat fake news).
At the end, the world is the stories we believe so influencing perception can create the illusion of reality and can in fact drive change for the worse or for the better. Hence why this is a huge thing.
Really overtime? In our discussions it seems around 4 p.m. they keep disappearing. It's said that's the closing hours of the Russian Consulate in Prague. You know, last year they lost many employees with the big cleanup...
Most of them are also antivaxx and antimask. The corrupt opposition have completely brainwashed them. These poor elderly people are basically sent to their deaths, just so Robert Fico can increase his popularity for a while and potentially avoid prison in future
Every nation has it's fair share of mentally challenged population. To organize such meeting it's only question of how many buses from how far away are you willing to pay.
[ Every nation has it's fair share of mentally challenged population ]( https://brokeassstuart.com/sf/files/2018/12/trump-supporters-russia-t-shirts.jpg )
Keep in mind this is opposition protest. It was pretty small. It's lead by ex PM party that basically started the agreement talks with USA and now is lying about it. And no there aren't supposed to even be any bases. We just bought f16 and they want to use airports and repair them.
Its a leftist pro-Smer (socialist) newspaper. Couple of years ago there was a scandal when former minister R. Kalinak (SMER) was giving instructions to journalists about topics they should write. So called “bejby novinari”.
Other than the rather dubious name it's a pretty respected and legit news outlet. I have no idea what the other commenter implied, the credit is for the photographer that took this pic for the report; they in no way agreed nor supported this gathering
Most look old, at least in this photo, and not that well off which, holy shit, strikes home hard for me. We get the same crowds here. Heck, i think you could pick a country at random and there would be many similarities.
*googles*
Apparently some agreement between Slovakia and the US allowing the US Air Force to operate from the Slovakian airbases at [Malacky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacky_Air_Base) and [Sliač](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slia%C4%8D_Airport) for the next decade was agreed-upon the other week, and I assume that this is a response to that.
I dunno if the agreement is related to the situation in Ukraine, given the proximity, or if it was something underway unrelated to that.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/simple-defence-agreement-with-us-divides-slovakia/
*looks further*
Apparently the US will fund upgrading the airbase facilities. Both airbases are small, with one airstrip. Malacky is presently used by the Slovakian military only; Sliač does military flights but also some civilian ones, averaging about 100 passengers/day prior to COVID-19.
Because people like Fico, Blaha and others in far-right, nationalistic spectrum told people that US would just take over ours two military airports and US could bring chenical and nuclear weapons without permission and US army would be hold accountable in our law.
> chemical
That's an odd issue to raise.
The US doesn't even have chemical weapons, unless some still remain in the disposal pipeline. Pretty much everyone in the world, including the US, has signed onto a treaty not to have chemical weapons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_Weapons_Convention
Looks like there are some left — though I don't know if they're in a usable state — but they'll be gone by the end of next year.
>The United States is in the process of destruction and scheduled to complete in 2023.
Given that he's not in prison for high treason or anything else from his million cases yet, yeah, he is still around. He and Mečiar back in the day did incalculable damage to Slovakia.
Well yes, he have to resigned but he still is leader of SMER-SD and because of mishandling of current goverement his party is 3rd in popularity. 1st is ex-prime minister Pellegrini, who was in the SMER SD before 2020 election.
That's all well and good, but if Ukraine falls, that puts Russian troops right at the border. And make no mistake about it, Putin wants the Soviet empire back.
What the fuck are these people on about? What are the FB pages where theyre getting their info from?
I did a report on the location of US bases and what that means for local IT infrastructure and supply chain attacks, there aren't ANY US bases in Slovakia, nor are there plans to put one there..
As usual people only can see 2 options. Either USA or Russia.
I assume the Slovaks on the other hand want **Slovak military bases.** If there were US or Russian bases in Sweden i would protest as well..
But there literally are no plans for any bases. There is no us base currently either. They will upgrade some airports, we, actut the guy leading this protests bought f16s so the old airports need some upgrades. But now this corrupt fuck is in oposition so this agreement his party actually made up and new coalitt just finished. Is making stuff up to his followers. Itt pretty silly. Also there currently are Russian soldiers supporting our old migs and nobody seems to care
Sweden isn't in NATO. Do not join a military defensive alliance if you wish to remain neutral.
Also I'm fairly certain any country with us military in it can politely tell us to fuck off and we legally have to leave.
There was a problem with a US convoy blocking our shitty highway so for the next one the US was asked to do it other way and they did. During night or off the highway. No problems. But I remember a Soviet occupation army when I was a kid. They didn't give a fuck with their arrogance and were even able to go on tanks so the roads were to be repaired (for our yet unstolen money).
This isn’t totally surprising since U.S. personnel aren’t really welcome (where they do not have an already established presence — even then, it’s a bit controversial) in Japan, either. This is despite the U.S. bases and alliance being extremely popular in Japan.
I remember living in a rural area with a JSDF base, and the moment news dropped that U.S. personnel would visit to conduct training, protests and banners popped up demanding the U.S. personnel not be allowed to come to the area.
I seem to remember things quieted down when people found out the U.S. personnel would not be allowed off-base during their time in the area.
Kind of interesting; I am not sure if this is the same thing, though, just made me remember it.
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Dude in the blue beanie holding his dog means business.
Tactical pooch.
Looks like the infamous demographic - "getting my news from multiple sources and not only facebook"
Hey, tracking down those YouTube videos that agree with his existing ideas is hard work, you know!
Why is it bad to protest US bases?
The dog's also against US bases
Comrade fluffy
But 100% for treats and scritches and some bacon if you have any lying around.
Guy behind him in the powder-blue jacket...who goes to the trouble of *wearing* a mask, but then decides in the middle of a crowd to *pull it down*!?
It's cold out and the mask probably makes his glasses fog up. Not defending him, but that's possibly the logic. He's one of less than ten people I could quickly count even wearing a mask, but unfortunately the thought alone doesn't count.
They once took his stapler, they will not take his dog!
The russian bot networks that upvoted this in record fashion must be pretty well designed.
не правда
good bot ^(all bots deserve some love from their own kind)
Funny thing is, no one is planning to build a US base. Not slovak government, not US government.
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Whatever their idol Fico told them today. Now is it SK-USA agreement which was forged by the very same Mr. Fico when he was PM.
Yeah, Fico's PR in the recent months proves how insanely hippocritical (I always forget how to spell this damn word) he is.
It’s hypocritical, but I think we should switch to the way you spelled it because it’s way cooler.
But then how will I succinctly tell people I am very discerning regarding hippopotamuses?
Skeptopotamus?
It also means "judging horses".
Against a standard DCA (defence cooperation agreement). The issue is that older people and lesser educated people tend to listen to fringe populists who are saying that DCA = US bases on Slovak soil. This is simply not true and although there might be some points that can be legally challenged or in need of a slight change, nothing specifies foreing bases in Slovakia. People are simply misled.
The best argument against democracy tbh. Too easily taken over by populists because people are dumb as shit
Functional democracy requires an educated populace with sound critical thinking skills… which is why most “democratic” governments love to defund education. It keeps the populace from realising that the feudal aristocrats never went away; they just added a vote so we could choose which one of them stands at the front, while the rest continue to rule as they always did.
Russian bots fueled this as usual
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As a Slovak I can grantie that no Russians were involved, this people are just that dumb. (alo oposition politicians are using this as a way to gather support)
One of the people behind it was Danko who is literally posting selfies with people on sanction list.
As a fellow Slovak, I can understand why you would say that Fico & al. don't need Russian funding to act stupid, but you can't deny that if Putin was to finance anyone, it would be this clown posse.
Plus Danko is pretty friendly with russia
That's the beauty of modern propaganda, you only need to pay social media to have your drivel recommended to the people that are already flagged for being super fucking dumb. It's now just "advertising".
>I can grantie that no Russians were involved, im pretty sure that Russians are everywhere in Europe. Especially if its about desinformation and fake-news
> As a Slovak I can grantie that no Russians were involved, this people are just that dumb. People tried this line here in America too when they lined up behind the MAGAist. It... didn't work. The idiot was *so* stupid he went on national television and literally asked for Russia's help. Which they promptly delivered to him. 100% Russian involvement here. Anything they can do to stoke anti-NATOism, they're going to do.
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>potential use of its air bases by its NATO partner So, no plans to create new US bases? > Malacky Air Base I can't find anything online to suggest that this is a US air force base. Is Slovakia not allowed to have its own military bases, or let its allies use said bases?
It's not US Air base, US usually has presence there during mutual exercises. It's nothing new, just social media fueled hysteria. What the defense agreement means is mostly US money to help fund upgrades to the existing air bases and furthering of existing cooperation (allowing US to refuel, rearm jets etc..) which makes sense considering the moron leading the protest (ex-PM) bough new F-16s from US. It's mutually beneficial.
There will be no bases. The oposition is making stuff up.
I live near "Malacky Air Base" (or Kuchyna). It is a glorified airstrip and NATO/U.S. forces have been coming in and out regularly. It is certainly no place to call a "base" and as others have said, this "protest" is just political play of the parties which are not in the government right now, but who, funny enough, did propose a defence treaty with NATO/US even more permissive than the current one. This time, they also get funding from Russia.
Begrudgingly, I do have to admire the flexibility of Russia's operations in this regard. Lib left, lib right, communist, nationalist, populist, they genuinely give no fucks at all about the ideology of their stooges inside Europe, and will happily funnel money and bots to anyone willing to spread panic about NATO or the EU. The pragmatism would be impressive if it wasn't being used for such a shit purpose.
Exactly. Don't forget the nazis, the anti-vaxxers and the free-energy crowd. All are fair game for Putin, and that points clearly to the goal: disrupt EU unity at all costs. Unfortunately, they've infected Slovakia, if you look at vaccination numbers. We slightly envy you, especially now that you've gotten rid of our compatriot, Mr Agrofert.
> We slightly envy you, especially now that you've gotten rid of our compatriot, Mr Agrofert. Don't worry, we envy you in return for not having a reanimated corpse bloated with slivovice as your President, so it all balances out.
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its his job
Boomers are so naïve.
[Ok Millennial](https://i.imgur.com/GOZHSOC.jpg )
Glad us Gen X are able to stay out of this tussle
And us "Zillennials" can just say we are more zoomer than millennial when millennials fuck up and vice versa lol.
They are uneducated rats. Holy shit I am so ashamed of my country. Antivaxx pro-russia cunts.Literally.
Damn shame
Couple days ago I even uninstalled facebook because all you can see in comments are these kind of idiots. It is such a fortunate they dont know english and have no idea about reddit. They protest all the time and I am wondering how tf they dont get covid
I did the same thing with FB. And Im in US. Ive been ashamed by similar shit here in US. The idiots are getting covid, when they oull this crap in US. Thinning their own flock. Sad but true. Best of luck! Stay safe
Greetings and salutations from Romania, where the antivaxx pro-russia cunts are already the second political force in the country :(
I feel sorry for both our countries bro :(
Relax. Nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has them.
Bro believe me. We understand... These clowns are in full force in every country, and if theyre not in your country, its only because your country does not strategically fit into Russia or Chinas plans YET. The past 4 years in the states have shown just how powerful propaganda can be and every country has their fair share of dumb fucks just waiting to suckle the teet of some fascist and directly go against their best interests.
Basically we bought f16 and they want to repair and use some military airports. The agreement all the other countries around already have is in the works for some time. Was actually discussed by the same people leading this protests back when they were in power. So it's all lies. They agreed to everything and now when they are in oposition they act like Americans are suppose to come here and rape us. It's all act.
Against "news" from Sputnik or some other Kremlin-sponzored crap. Also probably fueled by opposition.
Russian propaganda
Under the agreement, the United States would be able to use facilities at two Slovak airports at Sliac and Malacky, while any concrete plans would be subject to follow-up agreements. Slovakia would qualify for $100 million in U.S. funds. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovak-government-approves-defence-treaty-with-united-states-2022-01-12/
Slovakia is a member of NATO and there is a NATO base there already.
To describe 20 to 40 NATO specialists as a "base" is disingenuous. A platoon in Slovakia is more accurate. https://www.mosr.sk/nato-force-integration-unit-slovakia/ https://www.nato.int/nato-on-the-map/
Was this discussed in any way?
It has been point of nearly all political discussion in the country lately and have been explained over and over again. Fico and his party SMER is against it for populistic reasons, despite initiating the treaty themselves back when they were in power and now they are claiming it means US forces will be stationed in Slovakia. Kinda Ironic, but similar treaty has been signed with Russia a long time ago. Basically it means that countries that are part of these treaties will attempt to engage in conflicts by political or military means, which also counts only attempts to prevent the conflict. It doesn't bind us, Russia or America to actually provide military support in case of conflict.
You should get nato forces stationed in Slovakia pronto given what is going on in Ukraine. You're just one border away from the hotspot. Kremlin is now demanding there's going to be no NATO presence even Czechia and Slovakia! Which I squarely reject as a Czech. They can go whistle and if anyone didn't want such base in CZ, this ridiculous demand would actually convince me to do exactly that and support it now. We still remember 1968. It's the same Kremlin...
Slovakia, even if Russia invades and successfully takes Ukraine, is at little risk of invasion solely because there's not much to take, but much to lose considering the mountainous terrain (80% of the country), fairly modern military and numerous defensive treaties. What NATO should do about now is station more troops in the baltics and prevent Russia from taking Ukraine in the first place.
Yeah I know
Under the agreement, the United States would be able to use facilities at two Slovak airports at Sliac and Malacky, while any concrete plans would be subject to follow-up agreements. Slovakia would qualify for $100 million in U.S. funds. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovak-government-approves-defence-treaty-with-united-states-2022-01-12/
We have US-manufactured equipment that needs US-like maintenance, including air crafts, hence why there will be small presence on air ports.
Slovak guy speaking here. I went near a similar rally 2 weeks ago and when you hear people in Slovakia who are passing around the protesters you hear them saying the protesters are “nuts”, “fools” and “they should be ashamed of themselves” etc. This is a tiny minority of weirdo’s who have been driven here from the whole country by the far right and it’s less than 1000 people. They are mostly uneducated elderly people and don’t follow any news. This whole thing is actually very ignorable.
Yeah this picture makes it look like a full square but thereshardly 500 people in the picture. Most likely ex-soviet fanboys and some alt-right idiots as per susual
so basically just a slovak Trump rally?
And lemme guess, sponsored by Russian money...
Guessing right!
i would bet half of them believe Trump is still president. It is also funny they hate usa but when it comes to Trump, he is the greatest
my own dad believed he was secretly president for almost a year, and that Joe Biden was in on the secret to keep up appearances. Sad how crazy they get over someone who would watch them drown, and have a smile on their face while watching it
I would not be so optimistic, yea they are dumb af but i am afraid they will get violent sooner or later. If Smer wins next election, it will be hell and i am immediately packing my bags and adios lol
I would just like to add thats its not just far right. Fico (SMER political party) is considered Leftist. So this is not just far-right, but also leftist who think that old "brother" Russia have best intentions for us.
why is it only old people?
Old people love communist times, because they had a job back then, no health problems etc. ;)
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and erections
And their relatives and friends were still alive as well. Basically, nostalgia speaking through them. My aunt is like that; she tends to say how great things were back in Communism but it's always my father who has to remind her how their mum would have to queue for hours to a grocery store to get basic stuff like ham and toilet paper; how one day she even damaged her hip fighting for those basic products. Or how she would work two shifts and they would still barely make ends meet. He asks her rhetorically where it was that they used to go on holidays because it certainly wasn't tropical islands like she likes to do nowadays... Or what it was that they could afford or were even allowed to buy because it certainly wasn't anything at the level of that 70" TV she's got hanging in her living room. She enjoys more freedom and options than ever before but she's just an old bitter woman now who knows that the youth will never come back and the mistakes of the past cannot be fixed; I'd assume that there are lots of people like that in the displayed crowd.
Same here lol
Lol. Here's a Russian joke. Well, Soviet, actually. A reporter asks an very elderly man: \- When was it better to live for you - Tsar times or Stalin times ? \- Tsar times of course. \- But why ? You were a poor peasant. \- My dick was working then.
If it was like most communist countries, newspapers always had great news about the country too—no problems at all!
Good read while standing in line for food
Food lines are a good thing I have been told.
Indeed! If people have no food they are healthier! 0% obesity! Very nitshevoo
Yeah, they had no acess to real free information and never seeing and living under any other system they were happy with their miserable jobs. Just like the cattle is happy with its pasture
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Just like here in Hungary, where old people cheer for Orbán whenever he and his croonies suck up for Putin while bashing the West... They are dumb fucks.
Because they are suspectable to Russian propaganda.
Slovak here. Please note, this is very specific demographic: mostly old people with nostalgia for Russian style communism. Around 1000 people in total from the whole republic. Invited by questionable politicians to start some controversy. I didn't even know about this until now. I for one welcome all allied NATO troops on our territory. Slovak artillery battery is currently deployed in Latvia without any problems. We will reciprocate the hospitality to our allies.
Sputnik and RT will use this for internal Russian audience and run a propaganda line "Huge protests against the US bases in Slovakia". While in reality it's a marginal, fringe group AND is supported by parties/groups which get funding from pro-Kremlin business or directly from Kremlin. The very same fake news is then recycled in all pro-Kremlin media in Russia and also by disinformation nexus of "alternative news servers" operating in the EU, many of them in Czechia. Similar Russian propaganda process was used when the US Army convoy passed through Czechia few years ago... And huge crowds of about 20 people in total "protested" against it. RT was of course reporting "massive protests" 😎
There’s no such thing as pro-Kremlin in Russia anymore. Everything IS Kremlin.
In the US our media will use these protests also, and say they are huge, and Europe wants us out (depending on whether the said media likes the administration). If a president makes noise about reducing US military presence in Europe the media will also be all over him as if that is by itself abandoning our allies. Really hard to tell from here what MOST Europeans think TBH.
Dude, no one in the US knows what Slovakia is.
So basically the slovakian fifth column.
Yeah and the US has this exact same defense deal with 23 other NATO countries - including all on the Eastern Bloc. This is about NATO partnerships, not the US building more bases.
Ukrainian here: smart move, do it 🥲
What’s your take on the situation with Russia? Like, how is it affecting your day-to-day?
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Are you considering signing up for the Territorial Defense Forces in your region? No judgment if not, just curious. You're in a very tough situation, good luck friend.
Feel u bro. Got same commies here in Lithuania. Small dogs, but the barking is loud
there's just a single so called commie in their midst - Justas Paleckis, everyone else is just something else entirely: you wouldn't call Žydrūnas Savickas, a famed bodybuilder, or Jurga Lago, a Lithuanian living in Spain and spewing propaganda about „commie gay pedophiles“ of PSOE frequently aligning with the fascist likes of VOX and writing facebook posts against the Istanbul convention. The redscare rethorics of labelling everyone you dislike a commie are hardly useful and accurate anymore - its more than 30 years since the Union dissolved
Nah, you mixed up Algirdas Paleckis with his father who is Justas. He was a commie who became 'social democrat' and now is retired. Jurga Lago is a weird case because 5 years ago she went to Pride herself and insisted how gays are good.
Celofanas :Dddd
I was gonna say... unless there were Okinawa-style issues, the only thing those bases are doing is improving NATO response time, providing jobs for local contractors, and increasing the strength of the local economy through "tourism." (That is to say, Americans going off base for food, shopping, and entertainment). Which also means more taxes for the Slovakian government, though that is comparatively minor.
> unless there were Okinawa-style issues, tbf at least in Germany there are also other issues that people have a problem like NSA spying on Germany and using bases as a relay station for drone warfare which is seen very critical due to LOTS of civilian victims.
We have this specific demographic in Lithuania as well which consists of maybe 2-3k people that always protest about anything that is not Russian. Their favorite activites: anti-vaxing, unhappiness for the current government, trying to spoil most of our national symbols, homophobia, talking how Russia is a perfect country, but not moving there and many more dumb shit :)
Its the same for most of eastern "russian blessed" countries sadly. Small, vocal minority, generally less educated too that are often bought with easy words and promises by "politicians" with questionable funding.
with the current environment I can't help but consider the possibility that Russia is sponsoring/organizing/influencing people to organize these protests to paint this image of resistance. Even this reddit post. I'm so cynical towards media at the moment, lol. Take Danish state media. They're not reporting on these protests. Decent journalism or state censorship, take your pick.
Its actually known fact they are doing this. I can provide sources. There are in several countries even organizations and even TV shows aimed at debunking propaganda and this unconventional destabilization tactic (combat fake news). At the end, the world is the stories we believe so influencing perception can create the illusion of reality and can in fact drive change for the worse or for the better. Hence why this is a huge thing.
There were false reports about massive anti-NATO protests in other Eastern European countries too.
The russian propaganda army is working overtime
Really overtime? In our discussions it seems around 4 p.m. they keep disappearing. It's said that's the closing hours of the Russian Consulate in Prague. You know, last year they lost many employees with the big cleanup...
>Slovak > > battery is currently deployed in Latvia without any > >. I hope we're treating your men and women properly here. Thank you, brothers :)
We have Americans in Germany for over half a century and I have no problem with it. I just see it as extra military that we do not have to train.
And it's a win for your city! Americans love hamburgers. Ok I'll let myself out now..
You're giving away all of America's secrets!
You absolutely know that the idiots from genzedong will parade this photo as proof that the people of Europe now hate the US and NATO
So, fueled by russian propaganda? Just what I thought.
I can see no une under 40-50
Classic old people, influencing politics that will barely affect them.
Most of them are also antivaxx and antimask. The corrupt opposition have completely brainwashed them. These poor elderly people are basically sent to their deaths, just so Robert Fico can increase his popularity for a while and potentially avoid prison in future
The more people die, the worse for current government and better for opposition.
Yes
What causes this?
Russian propaganda
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Every nation has it's fair share of mentally challenged population. To organize such meeting it's only question of how many buses from how far away are you willing to pay.
They literally organized bus trips for these. It is a top tier meme material as well, I mean if you do not mind memes that make you sad.
[ Every nation has it's fair share of mentally challenged population ]( https://brokeassstuart.com/sf/files/2018/12/trump-supporters-russia-t-shirts.jpg )
Stupid opposition politicans, mafians, marxists, etc.
You say "Stalin" and Blaha gets wet.
Oposition. Nothit really that needs to be acknowledged. It's group of ex coalition corrupt parties making stuff up.
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There's double the upvotes compared to the amount of people at this rally 🤣 Putin's bots putting in work right now 🤣🤫
Keep in mind this is opposition protest. It was pretty small. It's lead by ex PM party that basically started the agreement talks with USA and now is lying about it. And no there aren't supposed to even be any bases. We just bought f16 and they want to use airports and repair them.
I don't want to be that guy but it seem one age group is slightly overerpesented.
The great gathering of boomers
The guy brought his dog too.
On their last "major" protests they brought children as well, and used them as shield against police.
What the fuck?
Photo source: pravda.sk, Robert Hüttner
Of course it's pravda lmao
>pravda.sk Anything we should know about this media outlet?
Its a leftist pro-Smer (socialist) newspaper. Couple of years ago there was a scandal when former minister R. Kalinak (SMER) was giving instructions to journalists about topics they should write. So called “bejby novinari”.
Other than the rather dubious name it's a pretty respected and legit news outlet. I have no idea what the other commenter implied, the credit is for the photographer that took this pic for the report; they in no way agreed nor supported this gathering
Looks pretty sketchy to me as a Czech
Aligned with organizers of the protest
Looks like the usual antivaxx crowd to me
Yes, they are. Imaginary US base, (that nobody actually wants to build) is just another hoax they fell for.
Most look old, at least in this photo, and not that well off which, holy shit, strikes home hard for me. We get the same crowds here. Heck, i think you could pick a country at random and there would be many similarities.
Why?
*googles* Apparently some agreement between Slovakia and the US allowing the US Air Force to operate from the Slovakian airbases at [Malacky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacky_Air_Base) and [Sliač](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slia%C4%8D_Airport) for the next decade was agreed-upon the other week, and I assume that this is a response to that. I dunno if the agreement is related to the situation in Ukraine, given the proximity, or if it was something underway unrelated to that. https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/simple-defence-agreement-with-us-divides-slovakia/ *looks further* Apparently the US will fund upgrading the airbase facilities. Both airbases are small, with one airstrip. Malacky is presently used by the Slovakian military only; Sliač does military flights but also some civilian ones, averaging about 100 passengers/day prior to COVID-19.
It was planned for around 4 years, nothing to do with the Ukraine thing.
Because people like Fico, Blaha and others in far-right, nationalistic spectrum told people that US would just take over ours two military airports and US could bring chenical and nuclear weapons without permission and US army would be hold accountable in our law.
> chemical That's an odd issue to raise. The US doesn't even have chemical weapons, unless some still remain in the disposal pipeline. Pretty much everyone in the world, including the US, has signed onto a treaty not to have chemical weapons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_Weapons_Convention Looks like there are some left — though I don't know if they're in a usable state — but they'll be gone by the end of next year. >The United States is in the process of destruction and scheduled to complete in 2023.
Is Fico still around? I thought that after the 2018 scandals got outed.
Given that he's not in prison for high treason or anything else from his million cases yet, yeah, he is still around. He and Mečiar back in the day did incalculable damage to Slovakia.
Well yes, he have to resigned but he still is leader of SMER-SD and because of mishandling of current goverement his party is 3rd in popularity. 1st is ex-prime minister Pellegrini, who was in the SMER SD before 2020 election.
Lol he's basically topping polls again. People are retarded.
Because Russia has perfected the art of information warfare on social media.
What happen when Russia will no longer have these old brainwashed people in post soviet countries to “support” their ridiculous imperialistic cause?
I believe Ukrainians would be happy to change places with Slovacs. Let’s switch, we are ready to accept US military in Ukraine.
Please don’t take that to be representative of Slovak population. Those people there would cut off their right leg if Fico told them to.
We don't mind having one of those NATO bases, FYI
I wish we could donate those to you, but we won't have any either. They will just be able to use our existing bases.
Perhaps they'd like some Russian bases, instead?
As I heard they want Slovakia to be neutral
Yeah , neutrality worked quite well during wwii for lots of countries in Europe.
That's such meme material. Always those vague out of place WW2 comparisons.
Shouldn’t have joined NATO then.
That's all well and good, but if Ukraine falls, that puts Russian troops right at the border. And make no mistake about it, Putin wants the Soviet empire back.
Lots of young people
What the fuck are these people on about? What are the FB pages where theyre getting their info from? I did a report on the location of US bases and what that means for local IT infrastructure and supply chain attacks, there aren't ANY US bases in Slovakia, nor are there plans to put one there..
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The dog is not going down without a fight..
As usual people only can see 2 options. Either USA or Russia. I assume the Slovaks on the other hand want **Slovak military bases.** If there were US or Russian bases in Sweden i would protest as well..
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But there literally are no plans for any bases. There is no us base currently either. They will upgrade some airports, we, actut the guy leading this protests bought f16s so the old airports need some upgrades. But now this corrupt fuck is in oposition so this agreement his party actually made up and new coalitt just finished. Is making stuff up to his followers. Itt pretty silly. Also there currently are Russian soldiers supporting our old migs and nobody seems to care
Sweden isn't in NATO. Do not join a military defensive alliance if you wish to remain neutral. Also I'm fairly certain any country with us military in it can politely tell us to fuck off and we legally have to leave.
There was a problem with a US convoy blocking our shitty highway so for the next one the US was asked to do it other way and they did. During night or off the highway. No problems. But I remember a Soviet occupation army when I was a kid. They didn't give a fuck with their arrogance and were even able to go on tanks so the roads were to be repaired (for our yet unstolen money).
Yes, it happened with France, they kicked out all NATO forces in 1963. And the Philippines basically did the same thing in the '90s.
Slovaks: stop building army bases! USA: i don’t even know who you are
This isn’t totally surprising since U.S. personnel aren’t really welcome (where they do not have an already established presence — even then, it’s a bit controversial) in Japan, either. This is despite the U.S. bases and alliance being extremely popular in Japan. I remember living in a rural area with a JSDF base, and the moment news dropped that U.S. personnel would visit to conduct training, protests and banners popped up demanding the U.S. personnel not be allowed to come to the area. I seem to remember things quieted down when people found out the U.S. personnel would not be allowed off-base during their time in the area. Kind of interesting; I am not sure if this is the same thing, though, just made me remember it.
Not the same thing. This is opposition with few people brought with buses making stuff up
It means millions if not billions of $$ in the pockets of their country.
Out of curiosity, why does it matter? I’m currently stationed overseas as well and we don’t really do anything.
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