BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Thousands of protesters in Slovakia ’s capital and elsewhere in the country rallied on Tuesday against a controversial plan by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to scrap mail voting for Slovaks living abroad.
The rally outside the Parliament in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, opened with applause for neighboring Hungary’s weekend election that ousted populist leader Viktor Orbán, rejecting his authoritarian rule in favor of a pro-Europe candidate.
Fico has been a divisive figure at home and abroad since returning to power in 2023. His pro-Russian and other policies prompted numerous protests. Critics say his autocratic rule has been inspired by Orbán.
Tuesday’s protests were the latest in a string of demonstrations against Fico’s policies. Opposition parties say his latest plan targets pro-Western voter while Fico claims the move is to “prevent fraud and manipulations.”
Michal Šimečka, leader of the opposition Progressive Slovakia party, which organized the protests together with three other political groups — Freedom and Solidarity, the Christian Democrats and the Democrats — told the crowd in Bratislava that what is at stake is democracy, like it was in Hungary’s election.
He said that with the proposed legislation, “tens of thousands of Slovaks living abroad will be prevented from voting” as the crowd chanted, “Shame, shame.”
“It’s clear they are doing it because they are afraid,” Šimečka said about the authorities and the draft bill, which should be up for debate during the ongoing parliament session.
“They are afraid of people, they are afraid elections, they are afraid of losing,” he said.
The only option remaining for Slovak’s to vote abroad will be to cast their ballots at Slovakia’s Embassies.
In the 2023 parliamentary election, almost 59,000 Slovaks living abroad voted by mail. Fico and his Smer, or Direction, party received only 6.1% of that vote while opposition groups got over 80%.
The next elections in Slovakia, a country of 5.4 million people, are due in 2027.
Slovaks also rallied on Tuesday in the cities of Košice and Banská Bystrica, as well as in Brussels and the Prague, the Czech capital.