Protesters in Slovakia condemn Prime Minister Fico's visit to Moscow
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Protesters gathered Friday in the Slovak capital to demonstrate against populist Prime Minister Robert Fico's latest trip to Russia.
Fico was the only leader of a European Union country to travel to Moscow for festivities marking the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Chanting slogans like 'We've had enough of Fico,' 'Slovakia is Europe,' and 'Stay there,' protesters filled Freedom Square.
Organizers said that Fico 'doesn't represent the whole Slovakia.'
'It's a shame for Slovakia,' and 'one of the worst moments for the Slovak foreign policy,' Michal Šimečka, the leader of the major opposition and pro-Western Progressive Slovakia party, said about the trip.
The Kremlin has used the annual 'Victory Day' celebrations to tout its battlefield prowess. On Friday, President Vladimir Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that 'we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.'
Fico said in a video message his goal was to establish 'normal, friendly cooperation,' with Russia.
The rallies in Bratislava and some other towns and cities across Slovakia were the latest in a wave of protests fueled by Fico's recent trip to Moscow for talks with Putin over gas deliveries in December.
Fico, who is a divisive figure at home and abroad, returned to power in 2003 after his leftist Smer (Direction) party won a parliamentary election on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform.
Known for his pro-Russian views, he has openly challenged the European Union's policies over Ukraine.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Germany's Merz says he found Trump open to dialogue and committed to NATO
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO. Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Trump as constructive but also candid, noting that the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine. 'Yesterday, in the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch,' Merz said in Berlin after his return. Thursday's White House meeting marked the first time the two sat down in person. Merz, who became chancellor in May, avoided the kind of confrontations in the Oval Office that have tripped up other world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. The two leaders opened with pleasantries. Merz presented Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of the president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany. Trump called Merz a 'very good man to deal with.' The American administration, he said, is open to discussion, listens, and is willing to accept differing opinions. Add he added that dialogue should go both ways: 'Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him.' He said he also met with senators on Capitol Hill, urging them to recognize the scale of Russian rearmament. 'Please take a look at how far Russia's armament is going, what they are currently doing there; you obviously have no idea what's happening,' he said he told them. 'In short, you can talk to them, but you must not let yourself be intimidated. I don't have that inclination anyway.' Merz, who speaks English fluently, stressed the need for transatlantic trust and said he reminded Trump that allies matter. 'Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,' he said. 'But you also need partners in the world, and the Europeans, especially the Germans, are the best-suited partners. 'This is the difference between authoritarian systems and democracies: authoritarian systems have subordinates. Democracies have partners — and we want to be those partners in Europe and with America.' He reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to NATO, particularly as Germany and others boost their defense spending. Trump has in the past suggested that the U.S. might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don't meet defense spending targets. 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is committed to NATO, especially now that we've all said we're doing more. We're ensuring that we can also defend ourselves in Europe, and I believe this expectation was not unjustified,' Merz said. 'We've been the free riders of American security guarantees for years, and we're changing that now.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Putin Ambassador Accuses UK Of Helping Ukraine Attack Russia – And Comes Up With A Bizarre British Motive
Vladimir Putin's ambassador to Britain has accused the UK of aiding Ukraine in its major attack against Russia last weekend. Ukraine deployed more than a hundred drones inside Russia last weekend in a sophisticated operation which destroyed more than 40 warplanes. Andrei Kelin told Sky News that Ukraine could only have achieved this 'serious escalation' if the UK had offered up its 'geospace data' for use. While denying that Kyiv's astonishing attack was a 'humiliation' for Moscow, Kelin warned Ukraine not to 'try to engulf World War III'. 'We know how much London is involved, how deeply British forces are involved in working together with Ukraine in targeting,' he said. The ambassador claimed only London and Washington have access to such 'geospace data', but that he does not believe Donald Trump would have aided Ukraine in such a way. According to Kelin, the UK wants to 'concentrate' on Russia to distract from its own internal issues. 'This story is as old as the world,' he told Sky News. 'When the government is not capable of dealing with internal economics and could not provide the population with normal conditions of life, then it tries to find an outside threat and concentrate on this threat.' It's worth noting that Putin's invasion of Ukraine has actually put a strain on Russia's economy because the president is redirecting funds to the defence sector and businesses tied to the war. As Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre in Berlin, said, this means the life of Russian civilians suffers. The ambassador also questioned defence secretary John Healey's recent claim that the UK is getting 'daily threats' from Russia. 'We do not represent any threat to Britain, at all, neither on the sea or in the air,' Kelin insisted. Asked by Sky News if there was any accuracy to the claims, the UK's environment secretary Steve Reed said he was not aware of any further details. He said: 'I'm afraid that's not something I can give you an answer to because I don't know the answer to that. 'I know that we as a government, cross-party actually, are standing alongside Ukraine as they try to defend themselves against a brutal unprovoked illegal attack, an invasion, from Putin.' The White House previously claimed it had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's attack. Putin's 'Blatant Disregard' For Russian Troops Unveiled As Moscow Approaches 'Grizzly' Milestone Why Ukraine's Surprise Attack Is Being Called 'Russia's Pearl Harbour' Keir Starmer Puts The UK On A War Footing As He Warns Of 'Growing Russian Aggression'
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Friday briefing: Elon Musk's fight with Donald Trump; travel ban; Russia strikes Ukraine; Supreme Court; storm forecast; and more
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk had a spectacular fallout yesterday. Trump's travel ban affecting 19 countries faced mounting criticism yesterday. Russia launched a major air assault on Ukraine overnight. A solid labor market is showing new signs of fragility. The Supreme Court sided with a woman who claimed anti-straight discrimination.
