Tens of thousands of protesters gathered today in the central square of Bratislava, holding placards with slogans against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitso and his turn to Russia, as the tension between the government and the opposition is swelling.

Organizers calculate that 60,000 people participated in the demonstration In Freedom Square, almost four times as compared to the protest rally two weeks ago. The protesters shouted ‘He arrives with Fitso“And”We are Europe” At some point they illuminated the square with their mobile phones when there was a short power outage.

Demonstrations were organized in another 20 cities around the country. According to local media, about 15,000 participated in the mobilization in Kositche, eastern Slovakia.

The political climate has been exacerbated this week, since the Left-nationalist government of Fitso He attacked the opposition, accusing her of seeking to cause chaos.

The government plans to take precautionary measures, and Fitso says there are plans for escalating mobilizations in an effort to overthrow the government, even with the occupation of state buildings. The opposition parties and organizations of civil society reject these accusations, saying that they are being formulated so that the government coalition can distract from its failure to solve the country’s problems.

Protest mobilizations were organized after Fitso traveled privately to Moscow in December to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin – a rare European leader’s visit after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He says his goal was to secure him. Its gas after Ukraine refused to extend a Russian gas transit agreement, resulting in the flow of flow from January 1.

Today’s mobilizations were organized by the “Peace in Ukraine” group.