The Daily Populous Tuesday January 14th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by pravda.com.ua and submitted by Pravda_UA

A Slovak student receiving an award at the presidential palace for placing in a mathematics competition has refused to shake hands with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini.

Source: a video of the incident shared on social media, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The student, Simon Omaník, was awarded a bronze medal at the Central European Mathematics Olympiad by Education Minister Tomáš Drucker.

When the minister suggested that Omaník shake hands with President Pellegrini, who was standing next to him, the student declined – even though the president had already extended his hand. After the awkward moment, Omaník, Drucker and Pellegrini posed together for a group photo.

Toto ste zachytili? Ten chalan je u mňa akoze macher pic.twitter.com/g65ZZLn8eL — Jakub Bajzath  (@BajzathJakub) January 13, 2025

No detailed explanation has been provided by Slovak media as to why Omaník, who attends a secondary school in Bratislava, refused to shake Pellegrini’s hand. However, a large ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag can be seen on the student’s jacket.

Background: Last week, President Pellegrini said he would not visit Kyiv on an official trip, citing Ukraine's decision to halt the transit of Russian gas. In December, Pellegrini suggested that Ukraine will need to make territorial concessions to achieve peace.

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napozajtra on January 13rd, 2025 at 17:53 UTC »

Here is our future Prime Minister.

Federal_Bonus_2099 on January 13rd, 2025 at 17:38 UTC »

I hope this is shared widely across Slovakian TV. I’m sure there are a lot of people who feels the same and the PM needs to feel the pressure from within.

-PM_Me_Dat_Ass_Girl- on January 13rd, 2025 at 17:26 UTC »

It goes without saying my feelings mean nothing in the context of the incident, but I'm really proud of this kid.

Well done.