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A significant number of demonstrators in Bratislava were Ukrainians, Slovak leader Robert Fico has said
Ukrainians have been a major force behind anti-government demonstrations held across Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico claimed on Saturday. He made the comment after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky endorsed the protests on social media.
Up to 100,000 people took part in the protests in more than 20 cities on Friday, including around 60,000 in Bratislava, local media reported, citing organizers.
The protesters demanded that the government abandon friendly relations with Russia in favor of closer cooperation with the EU and NATO. They carried placards reading “No collaboration with Russia” and “We are Europe and not Russia.” Some also carried Ukrainian flags and signs with pro-Kiev slogans, including a placard that read “I am here, on the Maidan,” referring to the 2013-14 pro-Western Euromaidan protests in Ukraine.
According to Slovak media, a group called ‘Peace for Ukraine’ was one of the NGOs that organized the demonstrations. Zelensky backed the protests on X, writing, “Bratislava is not Moscow, Slovakia is Europe.”
Speaking to national broadcaster STVR, Fico, who survived an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukraine activist last year, claimed that “a third [of the protesters] are Ukrainians who are against the Slovak government.” He accused the organizers of spreading “deceptive” claims that Slovakia is about to part ways with the EU.
“Nobody is going to leave the EU. Their problem is my sovereign stance on foreign policy issues,” Fico said. “I don’t want anyone to dismantle the republic because they do not like this government’s views on Ukraine.”
Fico dismissed calls for his resignation, saying his cabinet is “too seasoned and experienced” to be toppled by NGOs and activists, who he said are also active in Ukraine and Georgia.
After winning the election in 2023, Fico and his SMER-SD party reversed the previous government’s decision to send weapons to Kiev. He has since insisted that the conflict should be resolved through diplomacy and has criticized the EU’s sanctions on Russia.
Fico has threatened to cut electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kiev resumes the transit of Russian natural gas to Central Europe. Slovakia had received most of its gas through a Soviet-era pipeline that runs through Ukraine, which has refused to renew its contract with Russian energy corporation Gazprom, after which the flow stopped on January 1.
The prime minister also claimed that two recent cyberattacks on Slovak state-run agencies were orchestrated by foreign forces that took part in the 2014 pro-Western coup in Kiev.
