Robert Fico’s tilt towards Russia, including a visit to Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December, has prompted protests in Slovakia – Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Mr Fico’s anti-Western stance has triggered public protests demanding that Slovakia remain in the EU rather than tilt towards Russia.
Polls have shown Mr Fico’s party is now trailing the pro-EU Progressive Slovakia.
The controversy erupted as Viktor Orban, another pro-Putin EU leader, said the time was right after Donald Trump’s inauguration for nationalist forces to “occupy Brussels”.
The Hungarian prime minister has clashed regularly with the EU over migration, LGBTQ rights and media freedom. A friend of Mr Trump, he also sparked European anger by meeting Putin and criticising EU sanctions on Moscow.
Mr Orban wants to claw back national powers from Brussels and has formed an alliance of Right-wing Eurosceptic parties, which does not include Mr Fico’s Smer.
On Monday, Mr Orban said “anyone with eyes” could see that “liberal democracy” had “collapsed under its own weight” and the weight of its mistakes.
“The rebellion against woke liberal democracy has entered a new stage. The time has come for patriotic forces to occupy Brussels!,” he said as Mr Trump was sworn in as US president for a second time.
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Publish date : 2025-01-21 07:55:00
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