Thousands of people gathered in Bratislava and other Slovak cities on Friday, calling for Prime Minister Robert Fico to resign and continuing protests against what critics claim is a foreign policy that brings the country closer to Russia.
The protests, which have taken place biweekly since early January, were sparked by a December meeting between Fico and Russian President Vladimir Putin. This rare visit to Moscow by the leader of an EU member state occurred three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Slovakia is Europe,” chanted the crowd in Bratislava, along with cries of “Enough of Fico.”
The Dennik N newspaper cited a security expert estimating that up to 12,000 people protested in the capital, down from over 40,000 two weeks earlier. Demonstrations were also held in more than 40 other cities.
The Friday protests marked the seventh anniversary of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak’s murder, which led to mass protests against alleged public corruption, ultimately forcing Fico to resign as prime minister.
Fico returned to power after winning the 2023 elections, and his left-wing nationalist government has raised concerns among the progressive opposition and others due to his moves to alter criminal laws and reform the public media broadcaster.
Fico has halted state military aid to Ukraine and is in a dispute with Kyiv over the end of Russian gas transit this year.
He defends his foreign policy by claiming that it reaches in all directions.
Fico, a long-time dominant figure in Slovak politics, has often engaged in verbal warfare against the pro-Western liberal opposition, NGOs, and the media, accusing them of conspiring against Slovakia.
This month, he congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump’s efficiency advisor, Elon Musk, for his intention to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), claiming that its funds were used to “distort the political system” in Slovakia.
Fico, currently in the United States to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), met with Musk and said on Friday that he had received assurance that the era of funding “anti-government” media and NGOs was ending.
The four-time prime minister has vowed not to heed the protesters’ demands for his resignation.
