Protesters across the country on Friday chanted, “Resign, resign”, “Slovakia is Europe” and “Russian agent” with a crowd of 42, 000 to 45, 000 people reported in Freedom Square in the capital, Bratislava.
We support the EU’s and our constitution’s definitions of democracy, freedom, and human rights. According to the AFP news agency, 39-year-old protester Barbora Kabinova was quoted as saying, “We are here to keep it that way.”
Following Fico’s recent trip to Moscow, one of the few leaders of an EU nation to visit Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, the weekly protests follow.
The protests are the largest to shook Slovakia since it was hit by the murder of a journalist in 2018 that caused tens of thousands of people to walk in the streets, causing Fico to take control of the then-current government.
Fico, who survived a May suicide attempt, has claimed that the protesters worked with foreigners and Ukraine to try to overthrow the government, a claim he has not supported.
A 70-year-old protester named Juraj Kadlec pushed back against those accusations, saying the demonstrations were “not a coup at all”.
He said, “I hope our representatives will figure it out and either decide to change their ways or make a resignation.”
The left-wing nationalist leader has demanded that Russia stop supporting Ukraine, criticized EU sanctions against Russia, and said he would not allow Ukraine to join NATO, a defense alliance that many European nations are members of but whose expansion has long been viewed negatively by Russia.
Source: Aljazeera
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