Thousands in Slovakia and Czech Republic rally against leaders on Velvet Revolution anniversary

Crowds in the Czech Republic and Slovakia took to the streets on Monday night to protest their governments on the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ended decades of Soviet-dominated communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia.

Czechoslovakia split peacefully in 1993, and while the two nations have since joined the European Union and NATO, many now worry their pro-European values are under threat.

Tens of thousands of people protested against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Moscow-friendly stances, with rallies and marches organised in dozens of communities.

The protesters in Freedom Square in the capital Bratislava chanted, “We have enough of Fico,” “We want a change,” and “Resign".

One banner in the crowd displayed the words by late Czech leader Václav Havel that became the motto of the Velvet Revolution: “Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred."

Fico's party Smer held its own counter-event in Nitra on Monday, billed as a "Day of Respect for Different Opinions". Although he has not directly responded to the protests on Monday, Fico has accused the organisers of earlier demonstrations against his government of operating under foreign influence.

Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia, and thousands have repeatedly rallied to protest his policies. Most recently, his government cancelled the national holiday that marked the Velvet Revolution, calling it part of austerity measures.

Michal Šimečka, leader of the major opposition Progressive Slovakia party, rejected that explanation.

“It has nothing to do with economy or savings,” Šimečka said. “Robert Fico just wants to tell us that the holiday of freedom is useless, that freedom is useless. We value freedom and we will not let it be taken away from us.”

Fico also recently sparked anger in Slovakia by telling students in the city of Poprad at an event he attended that they should go to fight for Ukraine if "you are so for this war".

The Slovak premier has met Russian President Vladimir Putin three times since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 and has not provided Kyiv with military support, arguing for "an immediate halt to military operations". He also has openly challenged the European Union’s policies on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Prague's Old Town Square, thousands demonstrated against the formation of the new right-wing Czech government and Prime Minister-designate Andrej Babiš.

Following his party's victory in last month’s parliamentary elections, Babiš' ANO party has teamed up with the climate change sceptics, the Motorists party, and the NATO- and Eurosceptics Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD).

Protest organisers from the association Million Moments for Democracy said, "We do not want Russification, we do not want attacks on non-profit organisations, and we do not want grovelling to the eastern regime, threatening the security of our country."

Babiš has repeatedly rejected allegations of his or ANO's connections to the Kremlin as "absolutely absurd and false," stating that "foreign policy is in fact not a priority for ANO at all."

The commemoration of the Velvet Revolution is the Czech Republic's most important national political holiday.