Bratislava/Prague – Thousands of Slovaks demonstrated today in support of the country’s pro-European orientation. The rally in Bratislava and in more than a dozen other cities across the country, but also in Prague, was called by citizenship activists in particular in response to the December meeting between Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. In the Slovak capital, the Czech actor Ivan Trojan, among others, supported the demonstrators from the stage. In Bratislava, where according to the organizers, 15,000 people came, a crowd of demonstrators filled the area near the podium in the square next to the seat of the Slovak government. Many brought the flags of Slovakia and the European Union and chanted “We are ashamed of Fico”, “Dost bylo Fico” and “Vlastizrada”.
“Slovakia is facing a serious threat, the independence and democratic values of our country are under pressure from the government coalition. We will organize protests, petitions and other non-violent actions to show that we care about Slovakia,” members of the Mír Ukraině civic association read a statement at a demonstration in Bratislava. which is the main organizer of the current gatherings. The association organized a similar event at the same place in the Slovak capital a week ago.
“At the beginning of 2020, we heard that Vladimir Putin will never attack Ukraine, that he is not a madman. War has come, Putin is a madman. If Kiev falls, we will be next. Rarely is the choice so clear which side to take,” he said Trojan, whose words were applauded by the crowd. People whistled to show their disapproval of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo said in a speech that Slovakia is losing its European perspective under the current government.
According to the newspaper Korzár, about 2,500 people came to a similar rally in Prešov in eastern Slovakia, and hundreds more in Spišská Nová Ves.
Fico previously claimed that his trip to Moscow had nothing to do with Slovakia’s foreign-political orientation and that it was related to natural gas supplies. Bratislava has a long-term contract for the purchase of Russian gas until 2034, but Ukraine did not extend the validity of the contract with the Russian side on the transit of gas through its territory and stopped its transportation at the beginning of January this year. Fico used this to criticize Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and threatened Ukraine with retaliatory measures. The current Fico government already stopped military aid to Kyiv from the state reserves after taking office the year before last year, and Fico himself has been criticizing the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions for a long time. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s strong supporters and, for example, gave it various military equipment.
More than a hundred people protested in front of the Slovak embassy in Prague
More than a hundred people protested in front of the Slovak embassy in Prague’s Bubenč in the evening. Both Czechs and Slovaks living in Prague expressed their disapproval of the current political situation in Slovakia and the government of Prime Minister Fico. They chanted “Shame!” and on the banners they had, for example, the inscriptions “I have no words” or the flags of the North Atlantic Alliance. The event was organized by the association Million moments.
Speakers in Prague, including designer Dodo Dobrik and politician Fedor Gál, criticized, for example, the meeting of Slovak Prime Minister Fico with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the “purge of culture in Slovakia”. They said the country is at a crossroads as to whether it will continue down the democratic path.
“I am dissatisfied with what is happening in Slovakia and I considered it something basic to stop here tonight if I have the opportunity and I am in Prague and I want to support change as much as possible,” one of the participants in the demonstration told ČTK .
People from a young family that took part in the protest told ČTK that they are not indifferent to the future of Europe. They consider it an important civic activity. “We see that things are happening in Slovakia that we as citizens do not support and we want to have a government that makes decisions in favor of the citizens and behaves accordingly,” the participant added. The topic for the addressed participants was also the issue of free culture and media.
After Fico took office as prime minister in Slovakia, changes began to take place in culture and the media. His government pushed through the controversial reform of the public broadcaster RTVS, which was replaced by the new organization STVR. The director of the STVR is now selected by a board appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Parliament, which has raised concerns about restrictions on media independence.
“The current situation shows how easy it is to lose democratic pillars. A government that collaborates with the Putin regime is a big exclamation point for us and other European countries. We cannot ignore politicians who bow down and tolerate the outrages that are happening in Ukraine,” he said vice-chairman of the Million Moments association Lukáš Hilpert.
Slovakia EU CR demonstration Fico government PHOTO
Source: www.ceskenoviny.cz
