BratislavacTypeface:> Thousands of people in Slovakia took to the streets on Sunday to protest against the government led by Prime Minister Robert Fico, with the largest demonstration taking place in Bratislava.
Opposition media reported that between 17,000 and 18,000 people participated in the rally in the capital.
The protests, organized by two liberal and one conservative opposition parties, were held to mark the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution against the Communist regime of what was then Czechoslovakia. Opposition leaders accuse the government, led by Fico and made up of two social democratic parties and a right-wing populist party, of showing authoritarian tendencies. Demonstrators warn that Slovakia’s democratic freedoms are at risk, calling for action to defend liberty and democracy.