Our people
Doc. Mgr. Eduard Chmelár, Ph.D.
President
Doc. Mgr. Eduard Chmelár, Ph.D. - historian, political analyst, publicist, former rector of the Media Academy and candidate for president of the Slovak Republic. According to Oxford's History of Political Thought in Central Europe, he is "a key figure in the peace movement in Slovakia." He organized protests against the bombing of Yugoslavia, led a successful civil campaign to abolish basic military service, led the largest anti-war demonstration in Slovakia's history - the march against the war in Iraq, spoke at dozens of peace rallies and forums at home and abroad. He was chairman of the Committee on Petitions for calling a referendum against joining NATO. He is a promoter of the philosophy of nonviolence. For his journalistic work, he was nominated for the European Parliament Prize for Journalism in 2008. He is the author of four books, several dozen professional studies and the winner of the Humanist of the Year 2021 award.
Mgr. Iveta Kompišová, Ph.D.
Chair of the Management Board
We still live in a world where peacemakers and pacifists are considered radicals and their importance is suppressed. See how many dukes and people associated with the war have statues in our country, and how many statues do people who have deserved peace have? I believe that in the future we will work to stop perceiving these people as naive dreamers who were hoping for something that was not possible, and we would rather see them as forerunners of our own efforts. I have studied international relations, in which peace must be the highest value and principle. Unlike the security sphere, however, the area of peace in Slovakia is not covered by any institution and the word MIER has almost disappeared from our foreign policy dictionary. Therefore, in 2020 I decided to establish a civic association People for Peace, which in June 2021 merged with the civic initiative United for Peace, which created the current OZ United for Peace, whose goals and activities can be found in our statutes, on social networks and on this site. We believe that by educating the population and gaining it for the ideas of our peace initiative, we will also help to prevent further wars and conflicts through the power of organized public opinion.
Mgr. Pavol Adamka, PhD.
Board member, PR and social media marketing manager
For almost three-quarters of a century, we have not experienced a major military conflict in our area that would directly affect my generation. However, the rest of the world has not had such happiness, and armed conflicts are moving closer and closer to us. Due to petty pretexts and profits, a few politicians and business people suffer and die, destroying their homes and the values built up generations before us. And that's not enough - to be able to talk and agree. I wish that no one in my life, which is already quite short and complicated in itself, will experience the horrors of war and be able to develop freely in a peaceful society.
Peter Baláž
Board member
Peter Baláž is a Slovak publisher (www.espero.sk), activist, pacifist and Esperantist, winner of the 2012 International Esperantist of the Year Award. He is currently the President of the Slovak Esperanto Federation (SKEF) as well as the coordinator of the civic association "Education@Internet" (www.ikso.net). Professionally, he is engaged in publishing books, organizing educational international events and creating and coordinating educational online portals. In his free time he enjoys meditation, vegan cooking, reading books, sci-fi movies and of course Esperanto :). For more information click here: wikipedia.org/peter-balaz
doc. JUDr. Branislav Fábry, PhD.
Member, legal expert of the association
Branislav Fábry is a Slovak lawyer, currently working at the Faculty of Law of Comenius University, where he focuses on the theory of law and legal ethics. He has gained professional experience in the private sphere and in public administration. He also deals with bioethics issues. In the context of rising international tensions and armaments, in the last decade he has begun to write journalistically on the issue of peace and the improvement of relations between the West and Russia.
Katarína Jurečková
Member
I have an active interest in international relations and history, particularly the history of World War II and the Cold War. It is the Second World War, this global and most extensive conflict in the history of mankind, that is for me the memento of why it is necessary to promote peace and, in particular, to promote peaceful solutions to conflicts in every possible way, so that such an event will never happen again. Peace is an essential attribute for the successful development of society. Only in peaceful conditions can societies, states and nations function fully. Today, the importance of peace is all the more important as we are living in a time when humanity is facing the real threat of the outbreak of a third world war. It is very sad that the word 'peace' is much profaned and unpopular in society today, and that people who advocate peace are ridiculed and, in many cases, dehumanised. However, we must not be discouraged by this fact and our main effort must be to bring peace back to society, not only in terms of settling military conflicts, but also to bring peace and tranquillity to people's hearts and minds.
Milan Daniel
Member
Lifelong civil activist, former political prisoner of the previous regime. In 1998, he founded in Pardubice civic association Bridge for Human Rights, helping foreigners who have contributed to the Czech Republic to integrate. In 2014, after the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, he initiated the petition Europeans Against War, which was signed by more than six thousand signatories. As a journalist and political commentator, he has published in many Czech daily and weekly newspapers. Currently, he publishes his texts in the Czech-Slovak online magazine !Argument.
