(Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico rejected protesters' calls for his resignation on Saturday after tens of thousands demonstrated against his government's policy shift closer to Russia.

Tens of thousands of protesters thronged a central square in the Slovak capital on Friday, waving banners opposing Prime Minister Robert Fico's policy shift closer to Russia, after tensions between the government and the opposition rose.

There will be more and more of us. Those who want to live in our little Slovakia, but in a civilized Europe,” said Eva Kulová, 84, who helped topple Communism.

Tens of thousands of people in Slovakia gathered at squares and street across the country on Friday to voice their opposition to the pro-Russia policies of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in a central square in the Slovak capital on Friday, waving banners opposing Prime Minister Robert Fico's policy shift closer to Russia after tensions between the government and the opposition rose.

After Prime Minister Robert Fico alleged there were plans to escalate anti-government protests into an attempted coup, Slovaks took the streets in over 20 cities to peacefully protest the government's pro-Russia policy.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has commented on the thousand-strong protests against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's policy of rapprochement with Russia. Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter) Details: Protests under the slogan "Slovakia is Europe" against the Fico government's policy began in more than 20 Slovak cities on the evening of Friday,

The latest wave of rallies was fuelled by Fico’s recent trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. View on