Statement of rectors of the Comenius University and the Slovak University of Technology and the presidents of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Learned Society of Slovakia to the current social situation
Institutions whose mission is to spread and promote education, culture, critical thinking and humanism have a considerable social responsibility to use their voice when necessary. These institutions, which we have the honour to represent, have a moral obligation to exercise their reservations whenever the values they protect and promote disappear due to the actions of those in charge and are replaced by instinctive tribalisms, unculturedness, rudeness and arrogance.
As representatives of the leading scientific and educational institutions in this country, we express our concern and worries about the vulgarization of social discourse and the dishonour of public space, from which the culture of dialogue and respect for ideological opponents is gradually disappearing. In our opinion, these values have been rapidly degrading recently, and are being replaced by dehumanization, disregard for the basic postulates of professional polemics, and the creation of an image of two irreconcilable camps, membership of which is measured by expertise or inexpertise, truth and lies, decency and vulgarity. It is no longer important what is said and written, but who verbalizes their opinion and under what circumstances, professional criteria are redundant, institutions are weakened and society is tense and irritated.
We are convinced that the further continuation of this trajectory will be devastating for Slovak society. We, as well as the institutions we are a part of, are trying to build Slovakia based on its heritage of the centuries-old European values of humanism, decency, respect for human dignity, rationality and empathy, expertise and solidarity. However, we are deeply concerned that our society is gradually abandoning these values, and we fear that the consequences of this process will be irreversible and devastating.
We therefore call on all the decision-makers, public institutions, the media, and public figures to consider the impact and reach of their statements and actions and to consider the content of public discourse as well as its form. Only factual dialogue, supported by facts, stimulates professional polemics. A fact is the result of an objective and verifiable measurement or observation. Opinion is deemed alternative when the known facts make it possible to create different, i.e. alternative, solutions.
Only respect for the opinions of others can lead to a society that endures the attributes of decency, safety and unculturedness. We appeal for adherence to the principles of professionalism and professional care in the administration of public affairs, as well as respect for minority opinions and rights.
Please respect those values, which are the only guarantee of adequate prosperity of our society, and contribute with your behaviour and example to the return of Slovakia to the path to a decent, cultural and educated society.
Marek Števček, Rector of the Comenius University in Bratislava
Pavol Šajgalík, President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
Oliver Moravčík, Rector of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava
Jozef Noga, President of the The Learned Society of Slovakia