State Secretary Mircea Dusa participated in the event organized on Tuesday, August 29, to mark 73 years since the Slovak National Uprising. The event organized in the Slovak Republic included wreath-laying ceremonies and decoration of veterans and ended with a round of bilateral talks with high Slovak officials.

The chief of the Department for Defence Policy and Planning participated in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Military Cemetery of the Romanian Army in Zvolen and at the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising in Banska Bystrica. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Kiska.

At the end of the ceremony organized at the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising, Mircea Dusa handed over the Emblem of Honor of the Romanian Armed Forces to a Slovak veteran, Jan Steinsdorfer. The veteran is 96 years old and took part directly in the antifascist insurection, accompanying the Red Army and the Romanian one when crossing the front line to free prisoners.

A special moment of the ceremony was the decoration of a Romanian war veteran, retired General Neculai Pruteanu, 92 years old, who fought with the 27th Infantry Regiment of Bacau in the battles of Debrecen, Banska Bystrica and Zvolen. He was wounded on the Czechoslovakia front, was a platoon commander during WW2 and held various commanding positions after 1945, and retired in 1978.
At the end of the ceremonies, the Romanian delegation headed by Vice Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had a several rounds of discussions with the Slovak officials.

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August 29 is a national holiday in the Republic of Slovakia, marking the launching of the armed insurection against the German troops occupying the country. The battles began in Banska Bystrica. The Slovak troops were defeated at first but the battles continued until 1945, when Slovakia was freed with the help of the Russian and Romanian military.

Zvolen hosts the largest Romanian cemetery abroad, consisting in 10,384 graves. In addition, there are 14 monuments raised in memory of the Romanian soldiers who fell in the battles of 19441945.

The cooperation between Slovakia and Romania on the maintenance of the graves and war commemorative works was enhanced by the signing of an Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Slovakia concerning war graves.

Press Department