Thousands of people come to streets in support of Ukraine and against the government in Slovakia
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Thousands of people took to the streets of the Slovak capital Bratislava to protest against the Slovak government and express support for Ukraine, Reuters reported on March 12.
According to the news agency, the protest began with an air raid alert.
“People in Ukraine hear this every day,” protest organizer Michal Hvoretsky told the crowd.
Read also: Slovakia to stall trade liberalization with Ukraine without farming protections — PM Fico
The people were criticizing the actions of the government, which they believe has gotten too close to Russia.
A poster with the inscription “Russia is a terrorist state” hung on the podium next to the flags of Slovakia, Ukraine, European Union, and NATO.
According to organizers, about 5 thousand people took part in the protest.
The demonstrators said they did not like the direction chosen by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. They pointed out that Slovakia “is part of the West.”
In November 2023, during a visit to Brussels, Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalyniak told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the new Slovak government had decided to stop transferring military aid to Ukraine from its stockpiles.
On March 8, Andrej Danko, Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament and leader of the pro-Russian Slovak National Party, said that Russia “is not an aggressor, but only defends its interests” in the war against Ukraine.
Fico has also repeatedly spread Russian narratives about the war in Ukraine. He claimed that the war in 2014 allegedly began because of “Ukrainian Nazis.” He is convinced that Russia “will never leave Crimea and the territories it controls.”
In January, Fico said that Ukraine “must give” Russia part of its territory to end the war.
He also argues that “it is better for Ukraine and Russia to negotiate over the next ten years than to kill each other.”
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
