Slovaks protest amid PM Robert Fico’s coup warnings

Tens of thousands of people throughout Slovakia are demonstrating against the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico, defying his warnings that provocateurs linked to the liberal opposition would use the protests to bring about a coup.

Rallies are being held in some 25 Slovak towns and cities, the latest in a series of protests against his populist-nationalist coalition.

Protesters are angry at what they say is Fico undermining the country’s institutions, culture and position in the EU and Nato, especially his increasing attacks on Ukraine and rapprochement with Moscow.

Fico says he is pursuing a “sovereign” Slovak foreign policy aimed at “all four cardinal points of the compass”.

He denies opposition claims he wants to take Slovakia out of the EU and Nato, saying his country’s membership in both institutions was not in question.

The Dennik N website estimated that some 100,000 people across Slovakia attended the protests, with at least 40,000 in the capital alone.

Some 10,000 were reported to have taken to the streets of Banska Bystrica, a city of 75,000.

On Thursday, 15,000 demonstrated in Slovakia’s second city, Kosice, to avoid a clash with a separate event being held there this evening.

There were no reports of violence or disorder, contrary to Fico’s warnings this week that provocateurs would encourage demonstrators to attack public buildings, causing a police reaction leading to bigger protests.

Earlier on Friday Fico told reporters police would shortly begin deporting several foreign “instructors” he claimed were in Slovakia to help the opposition try to topple his government.

On Wednesday he called a meeting of the government’s security council, saying the intelligence services had concrete proof that a group of foreign provocateurs who were involved in the recent protests in Georgia and in 2014 in Ukraine were active in Slovakia.

Slovakia’s domestic intelligence service, the SIS, has confirmed the claims, but has given few details. The opposition has little faith in the SIS, as it is run by the son of an MP in Fico’s Smer party.

Fico said a “large-scale” cyber attack that hit the country’s health insurer on Friday was a textbook model “of how to liquidate a disobedient government which has unorthodox views on certain things” – a reference to his opposition to arming Ukraine and his efforts to mend relations with Moscow.

He said such activities were being carried out “by representatives of the opposition, NGOs organised from abroad, foreign instructors and the media.”

Dennik N later reported the incident was actually a phishing attempt, not a cyber attack, and not particularly large in scale.

Slovak officials have claimed a previous cyber attack against the country’s land registry could have come from Ukraine. Kyiv has flatly denied the accusation.