The Slovak Red Cross is addressing allegations that a local staff member used the organizationS resources to solicit attendance at a rally hosted by the Smer party, one of Slovakia’s major political forces. The incident has prompted the humanitarian organization to investigate a potential breach of neutrality, a core tenet of the Red Cross’s mission [[1]]. As the Red Cross emphasizes it’s apolitical stance, questions are being raised about the lines between civic engagement and political endorsement for aid organizations in Slovakia [[2]].
The Slovak Red Cross has distanced itself from an event where someone invited people on its behalf to a political rally held by the Smer party, a major political force in Slovakia. The incident raises questions about the neutrality of humanitarian organizations and their potential entanglement in political activities.
“The situation that occurred in Šala is an individual activity of a specific member of the Local Association of the Slovak Red Cross, which is in strict contradiction with our values and goals,” said Zuzana Vongrejová, a spokesperson for the Slovak Red Cross.
Vongrejová explained that the Slovak Red Cross is an apolitical organization guided by the principles of “neutrality, impartiality, and independence, and does not fundamentally support the activities of political parties.” The organization is investigating the incident in Šala to prevent similar occurrences, she added.
The Slovak Red Cross’s statutes explicitly address political neutrality. “Neutrality means that the movement, in order to maintain trust from all parties, maintains a distance from conflicts and disputes of a political, racial, religious, and ideological nature,” the statutes state.
The humanitarian organization has identified the staff member involved in the invitations.
‘I was calling as a Smer member,’ she claims
“Yes, this woman has been identified,” a Red Cross official told reporters, without providing further details. News outlet Aktuality.sk located and contacted the individual.
The woman is Veronika Kružlicová, who has led the local branch in Šala for 40 years and has collaborated with the Red Cross for an additional 20 years. However, she denies any wrongdoing. “I have never linked politics and the Red Cross. When I was with the Red Cross, I was with the Red Cross, and when I was with Smer, I was with Smer. I never violated anything to connect the two,” Kružlicová told Aktuality.sk.
She admitted to contacting attendees of a bus trip to the Smer event, but insisted they were fully aware she was calling as a Smer party member, even without her explicitly stating it. Ultimately, 44 people from Šala attended the rally.
“I wasn’t inviting people as a representative of the Red Cross, but as a Smer member,” she added. She also revealed she organized similar transportation for a previous campaign event featuring Peter Pellegrini, Jozef Banáš, and Andrej Babiš in Bratislava.
According to Kružlicová, the process typically involves distributing flyers and asking people if they’d like to attend a Smer event. “That was all. I didn’t know if Robert [Fico] would come or who would be speaking. I just knew that Duchoň’s songs would be performed.”
She said she specifically warned the passengers on Monday’s bus not to mention either the Jednota party or the Red Cross. “I told her, ‘Don’t mention Jednota or the Red Cross,’” she explained. “She knew very well she was going to a Smer event.”
Kružlicová is active on social media, regularly sharing posts from the Smer party. Recently, she shared a video of Robert Fico claiming that the British government was influencing elections in Slovakia. Her profile also features a photo with Katarína Roth-Neveďalová, a Member of the European Parliament for Smer, and she attended the party’s International Women’s Day celebration in Prievidza, posting on Facebook, “The hall was full, it was great.”
The Slovak Red Cross could revoke Kružlicová’s membership for a serious violation of its rules and for damaging the organization’s reputation. The local branch will decide on the consequences at a meeting this week, according to Vongrejová. “The territorial council of the aforementioned territorial association of the Slovak Red Cross will decide on further steps this week,” she said.
Smer has a history of mobilizing supporters
The Monday rally wasn’t the first time Smer has arranged transportation for its supporters. The Pezinku district organization of Smer also offered free transportation to attendees, and party member Marek Kuruc promoted the event as a cultural program. “The whole event will last for two hours, and a pot of goulash will be served at the end,” he said. Ján Richter, the chairman of the parliamentary club, stated he was unaware of who organized the invitations to the party event. “This was organized by regional structures,” he wrote in an email.
Smer has previously mobilized supporters for political events. In 2022, lawmaker Jana Vaľová offered free transportation and lodging to supporters rallying in support of Robert Kaliňák after his arrest.
Last year, Andrej Danko, the chairman of a smaller coalition party, also attempted to rally supporters for street protests. “We will propose a coalition council protest. Why shouldn’t we also show that we have our support if this continues?” he said in August. However, his call to action did not result in widespread demonstrations.
