25.01.2025, Bratislava.
A third of the protesters in Slovakia demanding the government’s resignation are from Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on January 25 during the Saturday Dialogues program on RTVS.
“It’s incredible when I hear that… Ukrainian television is running around at protests where a third of the people making noise against the Slovak government are Ukrainians,” Fico said.
He also pointed out that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reshared a social media post by Juraj Rizman, a protest participant and the partner of former Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová.
Rizman shared a photo from the protests, captioning it, “Bratislava is not Moscow. Slovakia is Europe.”
Fico previously criticized Kyiv over the Ukrainian crisis, asserting that Ukrainian authorities are leading their country toward losing a third of its territory and occupation by foreign forces.
In late December 2024, tensions flared again between Kyiv and Bratislava due to Ukraine’s unilateral decision to halt the transit of Russian gas through Slovak territory. In response, Fico threatened to block EU aid to Ukraine.
Recently, Slovakia has seen mass anti-government protests, with demonstrators calling for the government’s resignation and an end to Bratislava’s cooperation with Moscow. Slovak authorities claimed that foreign instructors and a Ukrainian non-governmental organization were involved in instigating the protests.
