Marian Kotleba

Marian Kotleba (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmari.aŋ ˈkɔtleba]; born 7 April 1977) is a Slovak politician and leader of the far-right, neo-Nazi[1][2][3] political party Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia (Slovak: Kotlebovci – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko).[4]

Marian Kotleba
Governor of Banská Bystrica Region
In office
24 November 2013 – 4 December 2017
Preceded byVladimír Maňka
Succeeded byJán Lunter
Member of the National Council
In office
2016–2022
Personal details
Born (1977-04-07) 7 April 1977
Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
(now Slovakia)
Political partyPeople's Party Our Slovakia
(Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko)
SpouseFrederika Pospíšilová (div. 2019)
Alma materMatej Bel University

He served as the Governor of Banská Bystrica Region from 2013 to 2017. He was a presidential candidate in the 2019 election, in which he finished fourth.

Early life and education

Born in Banská Bystrica in what was then Czechoslovakia, Kotleba attended the local Jozef Murgas High School. After finishing his education at a Grammar School he enrolled at the Matej Bel University receiving a Master's Degree in Pedagogics, later he once again enrolled at the Economics faculty at the same university and graduated with a master's degree in Economics.[5] After studies he taught at the Sports Grammar School (Slovak: Športové gymnázium Banská Bystrica) specialising in sports.[6]

Political views
Banner at the Banská Bystrica administration building put up by Kotleba,[7] ‘Yankees go home! Stop NATO!’

Kotleba supports Jozef Tiso and the First Slovak Republic,[8][9] and he is openly against Roma people,[10][11] Slovak National Uprising,[12][13] NATO, the United States and the European Union.[14] According to Hospodárske noviny, his position on the Holocaust is unclear.[15] The BBC[16] and The Economist have described him as a neo-Nazi.[17] Kotleba has promoted the Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory and described Jews as "devils in human skin".[18][19]

Kotleba has received a negative reception from the Slovak and foreign media due to his political views. Outlets such as Pravda, Denník SME, and Aktuality have characterized him as "extremist", "fascist", and "neo-Nazi".[20]

Russia and Syria

Kotleba is known for his sympathy towards the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic, having slogans during presidential campaign in 2019 such as "For Slavic unity, against war with Russia" or declaring on national television that "Bashar Al-Assad is a hero of the Middle-East". Kotleba also made trips to Syria, having met with Syrian House Speaker and Foreign Minister of Syria.[21] It was revealed upon his departure from Banská Bystrica governorship from the documents found there, that he wanted to send a letter to Russian ambassador, in which he asked for assistance and profoundly wrote about his intention to buy a Russian car.[22] He also spoke critically of American intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Libya, and Syria, once reading all of United States involvement in regime change in the Slovak Parliament.[23]

Political career

In 2003, Kotleba founded the far-right political party Slovak Togetherness (Slovak: Slovenská Pospolitosť). In 2007 the Slovak interior ministry banned the party from running and campaigning in elections, however it still functioned as a civic organisation. In 2009 he ran for the post of Governor of the Banská Bystrica region and received 10% of the votes. In the 2013 local elections he ran again and this time received approximately 20% of the votes, thereby securing a run-off against favourite Vladimír Maňka. Kotleba won the run-off by receiving 55% of the votes.[16]

Kotleba's win was described as a "shock" by political analysts, who attributed it to deep anti-Romani sentiments in the region.[24] Observers originally had said that they saw almost no chance for Kotleba to succeed in the second round against Maňka, but nonetheless found his strong showing "disturbing".[25]

Prior to the 2016 election to the National Council, he renamed his party Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko (English: People's Party Our Slovakia) to Kotleba – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko. Despite the polls suggesting the 1.5–3.5% gain of votes, the party rocketed to the parliament with a gain of over 8% of the vote. Despite elements of Neo-Nazism, the post-electoral polls suggest that his success was a result of dissatisfaction with the running of Slovakia and was seen as a protest vote against the ruling Smer – Sociálna demokracia and the fractured right. It was also linked to the fall of the Christian Democratic Movement, the Christian conservative party, and the European migrant crisis.

He was defeated in the Slovak regional elections of 2017 by an independent candidate, Ján Lunter.[26]

In the 2020 parliamentary election his party gained 7.97%, which gave them 17 seats.[27]

On 5 April 2022, Kotleba automatically lost his mandate of MP in the National Council as a consequence of being found guilty of demonstrating sympathy for a movement directed at suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms by the Supreme Court.[28]

€1,488 cheques court case

Kotleba was charged with demonstrating sympathy for a movement directed at suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms[29] by publicly donating €1,488 cheques to various families.[30] This combination of numbers is alleged to carry a white supremacist and Neo-Nazi message.[31]

On 12 October 2020, a first-degree court found him guilty of a more serious crime than he was charged with (supporting and propagating a movement whose aim is the repression of human rights and freedoms, and doing so publicly). He was sentenced to four years and four months in a lowest-security prison.[32] Kotleba appealed against the verdict.

On 5 April 2022, the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic changed the ruling of the first-degree court and found Kotleba guilty of the crime he was originally charged with. He received a suspended sentence of 6 months in prison.[28]

Electoral history

Presidential
Election First round
Votes % Place Result
2019 222,935 10.39 4th Lost

Further reading

References
  1. Foy, Henry (March 7, 2016). "party makes an electoral breakthrough in Slovakia". Financial Times.
  2. "Rise of proudly-neo-Nazi party unnerves a European nation". CBS News. November 18, 2016.
  3. Cunningham, Benjamin (3 June 2016). "5 takeaways from Slovakia's election". POLITICO. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  4. "TA3 pozvala do živého vysielania Mariana Kotlebu". Ta3. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  5. "Extremist Kotleba wins 20% of vote in regional elections". The Daily.sk. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  6. sk:Marian Kotleba#Vzdelanie a začiatky kariéry
  7. Daniel Vražda (2014-08-29). "Kotleba vyvesil v Bystrici transparent Stop NATO" [In Bystrica, Kotleba put up a banner saying Stop NATO]. Naša Bystrica (SME) (in Slovak). Petit Press, a.s. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  8. "Kotlebov mesačník Náš kraj v máji nevyjde, stále ho skúma polícia" [Kotleba's monthly "Our country" won't be published in May, police investigation is under way]. SME (in Slovak). TASR. 2014-05-15. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  9. odu (2014-04-08). "Kotleba zneužil župné noviny pred eurovoľbami" [Kotleba abused local administration newspaper before Europarliament elections]. Pravda. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  10. "Marián Kotleba: Štát chráni cigánskych parazitov" [Marián Kotleba: State protects gypsy parasites]. Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). 2010-05-31. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  11. Ondrej Kubovič (2013-11-24). "Vedia koho volili? S Kotlebom sa spája extrémizmus aj oslava Slovakštátu" [Do they know who they voted for? Kotleba associates with extremism and the First Slovak State celebrations]. Aktuálne.sk (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  12. "Kotleba nesúhlasil s prezidentom. Nechcel mu však oponovať" [Kotleba disagreed with the president; didn't want to oppose him though]. Hospodárske noviny (in Slovak). TASR. 2014-01-09. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  13. "Šéfovia krajov sa u prezidenta nezhodli s Kotlebom na téme SNP" [Regions' heads didn't agree with Kotleba regarding the Slovak National Uprising during the meeting with the president]. Pravda (in Slovak). TASR. 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  14. "Neustupujte teroristom, hrozí vám diktát Bruselu, píše Kotleba Janukovyčovi". Hospodárske noviny (in Slovak). TASR. 2014-01-31. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  15. Mária Hunková (2013-11-18). "Politický život Mariana Kotlebu v skratke : Rómovia sú paraziti a SNP puč. Na stráž!". Hospodárske noviny (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  16. "Slovak 'neo-Nazi' wins election in Banska Bystrica". BBC. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  17. "A neo-Nazi wins". The Economist (published 2013-11-28). 2013. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  18. "My sme národnosti slovenskej, nie židovskej. Čo všetko už Kotleba povedal o slovenskom štáte". Denník N (in Slovak). 13 March 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  19. Paulovičová, Nina (2018). "Holocaust Memory and Antisemitism in Slovakia: The Postwar Era to the Present". Antisemitism Studies. Indiana University Press. 2 (1): 17, 9–22. doi:10.2979/antistud.2.1.02. S2CID 165383570. On March 14, 2004, in his public speech to commemorate the establishment of the 1939 Slovak state, Marian Kotleba, the leader of the extreme PP-OS (People's Party Our Slovakia), mocked efforts to come to terms with the Holocaust past and marked out Jews as "devils in human skin." Kotleba further promoted the view of Ľudovít Štúr—the leading representative of Slovak national revival in the nineteenth century—that Jews have no historical, cultural, or social ties with Slovaks. When the Jewish community expressed outrage against the demonstration of Kotleba supporters in Komárno in 2005, Kotleba defended the extremists by accusing Jews of plotting "against the Slovak nation, statehood, and Christian traditions" often with the help of the "Magyar chauvinists and domestic traitors." In Kotleba's eyes, every political skirmish in Slovakia is a "very well prepared performance" directed by Z. O. G. (the "Zionist Occupation Government").
  20. Kluknavská, Alena (2015). "A right-wing extremist or people's protector? Media coverage of extreme right leader Marian Kotleba in 2013 regional elections in Slovakia". Intersections. 1 (1). doi:10.17356/ieejsp.v1i1.35.
  21. "Fotoreportáž z oficiálnej návštevy Mariana Kotlebu v Sýrii a Libanone. Zamlčiavané informácie o skutočných agresoroch!". 30 June 2018. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  22. Walker, Shaun (14 February 2019). "How a Slovakian neo-Nazi got elected". The Guardian.
  23. "M. Kotleba o NATO (6. schôdza - 14. 6. 2016)". YouTube. 10 January 2017.
  24. "UPDATED: Five remaining regional leaders elected; extremist wins in Banská Bystrica". Slovakspectator. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  25. "Far-right leader Kotleba wins in Banská Bystrica". Slovakspectator. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  26. "Slovak neo-Nazi leader defeated in regional election". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2017-11-05.
  27. "Final results: Debacle for the coalition, great victory for Matovič". The Slovak Spectator. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  28. Kováč, Peter (5 April 2022). "Kotlebu odsúdili, do väzenia však nepôjde". SME. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  29. "Kotleba of ĽSNS charged with extremism". The Slovak Spectator. 30 July 2018.
  30. "Le " Führer " slovaque de Banska Bystrica inquiété par la justice". Le Monde. 2 August 2017.
  31. "Police charge leader of Slovak far-right party with extremism". Reuters. 28 July 2017.
  32. "Guilty: Kotleba sentenced to four years and four months in prison". The Slovak Spectator. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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