About 15,000 participate in anti-government rally in Slovakia

The report said the opposition returned to protests against the government of Robert Fico. It said the protest was organised by two opposition parties represented in parliament: Progresivne Slovensko (Progressive Slovakia) and Sloboda a Solidarita (Freedom and Solidarity).

The main topic of the rally was the disagreement of those gathered with the reform of state television proposed by the Fico government and the foreign policy of the current cabinet.

Protests have been occasionally held in Slovakia since the end of 2023.

They were provoked by the initiative of the government led by Fico to carry out a large-scale reform of criminal legislation, including mitigation of punishment for some economic, corruption-related and property crimes and closure of the special prosecutor's office.

The opposition in Slovakia said that proposals to close the special prosecutor's office were due to the fact that the government wanted to stop investigating politically sensitive cases; it also did not agree with the proposed mitigation of punishments.

(With UNI inputs)