Printed 05.02.2023 12:54 05-09-2016 Daniela Lazarova
A twenty-year-long futile drive to buyout a pig farm standing on the site
of the former Roma concentration camp in Lety, south Bohemia has received
fresh impetus from an unlikely quarter. ANO leader Andrej Babiš who last
week insulted the memory of the hundreds of Romanies who died there in
inhumane conditions or were sent to their death in Auschwitz, has pledged
to visit the site, bow to their memory and find the money needed to buyout
the farm and build a dignified memorial.
“If we started debating Andrej Babiš’ dismissal from the cabinet we would turn this into a coalition problem; which it is not. Neither the Social Democrats nor the Christian Democrats have anything to do with the said statements.” The finance minister hastily apologized for his words, saying he had not meant to deny the Holocaust and had been quoted out of context. He lashed back at the prime minister saying Sobotka was intentionally adding fuel to the fire to damage him ahead of the regional elections and accused his critics of hypocrisy, saying politicians had done nothing for twenty years to solve the problem of the pig farm standing on the former site of the Lety concentration camp.
Babiš wrote on Twitter shortly after the storm broke. Whether this form of atonement will be enough remains to be seen. Both Human Rights Minister Jiři Dienstbier and members of the opposition say the matter is not closed. However, it will be voters who will have the last say when they go to the polls in the autumn regional and Senate elections. And so far nothing the controversial ANO leader has said and done has affected his strong lead in popularity ratings. Copyright © Radio Praha, 1996 - 2003 |