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Thousands of people took to the streets on Friday in Bratislava and other cities in Slovakia to demonstrate their opposition to the government’s rapprochement with Moscow despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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January 10, 2025 – 10:07 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) The Slovak Prime Minister, the nationalist Robert Fico, one of the Kremlin’s few allies within the European Union, has undertaken to strengthen ties with Moscow and has stopped all military aid to Ukraine since his return to power in October 2023.
He recently visited the Russian capital to meet President Vladimir Putin following Ukraine’s decision to cut the transit of Russian gas through its territory, which supplied Europe via Slovakia.
“This is Europe!” », “We are ashamed of Fico! », “We will not give up Slovakia! “, chanted thousands of demonstrators in the central square of Bratislava.
Local media reported demonstrations in around ten Slovak towns.
Russian gas
Robert Fico told parliament on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had promised him Russian gas for Slovakia.
Europe still receives Russian gas via the Turkstream pipeline, as well as liquefied gas transported by sea.
Mr. Fico threatened Ukraine, after the closure of the gas pipeline crossing its territory, to cut in return its electricity deliveries to this country at war whose energy infrastructure is targeted by Russian bombings, as well as humanitarian aid.
He also threatened to cut aid to Ukrainian war refugees on Slovak territory.
The Slovak Prime Minister also claimed to have offered to host peace negotiations in Slovakia, a NATO member country, an initiative denounced by kyiv as playing into the hands of Moscow, which has repeatedly declared that it does not envisage peace. only on his terms.
