No 'Walker' for pedestrian bridge: Slovakia favors history over love for Chuck Norris

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Published time: September 22, 2012 08:44
Edited time: September 22, 2012 13:48

Construction of a new pedestrian and cycling bridge is seen in Devinska Nova Ves near capital Bratislava (Reuters / Radovan Stoklasa)

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Architecture, Europe, Movies

Hollywood's best known “Hitman” Chuck Norris is a real hero in Slovakia, it turns out. An army of his fans have voted to name a new bridge spanning the Morava River and the country's border with Austria after the star. Authorities disagreed.

During the two-month online poll up to 12,599 people reportedly voted in favor of 72-year-old Norris, a martial arts champ-turned actor. The Walker: Texas Ranger star’s name was expected to be given to the new pedestrian and cycling bridge near the capital.

However, the Bratislava Regional Assembly decided to call the bridge the "Freedom Cycling-Bridge", to pay tribute to those who died trying to escape communist regime several decades ago.

"It truly is a place where people were running for freedom through barbed wire, it is a place where many have died, so this is a dignified way how to honor these people," Bratislava Region Chairman Pavol Freso was quoted as saying.

Chuck Norris (Reuters / Chris Keane)

The assembly's choice earned only 457 votes, outshone by other proposed names, including "Maria Theresa" after an Austro-Hungarian empress, Reuters reported.

The country in Eastern Europe, Slovakia was part of the former Czechoslovakia and has a 107km border with Austria. A number of people lost their lives in an attempt to flee the communist regime before its long-awaited collapse in 1989.

Comments (2)

denny (unregistered) 22.09.2012 17:05

Old Chuck, aside from being a little more extreme in his political beliefs than Adolph Hitler, is what we call a "Chicken hawk" here in the USA. He has made many public statements concerning the "evils" of communism, socialism and any other political beliefs which don't match his own; yet when he had the one, officially sanctioned American opportunity to do something about his hated communists, he was conspicuously absent as so many of the American communism and Russia haters are when it comes time to support your so-called beliefs with action. With all of his murderous skills I'm sure the American troops in Vietnam could have used his expertise. Chicken hawks certainly live up to that old peace lover's phrase, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" Like the Hollywood films themselves, old Chuckie boy is simply a dream weaver.

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Jandy (unregistered) 22.09.2012 11:29

As the geographic central point of the Europe lies right in Slovakia I would rather say that Slovakia is in the Central Europe than Eastern Europe

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