Slovaks rally to condemn legislation they say would harm nongovernmental groups
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Protesters rallied in Slovakia's capital and several other cities Thursday to condemn legislation approved by Parliament that they say could curb free expression and hamper the work of nongovernmental organizations.
People who gathered at Bratislava's Freedom Square compared the measure to Russia's 'foreign agent' law , which has been criticized as repressive, before marching to the presidential palace to urge President Peter Pellegrini to veto the bill. 'No to the Russian law,' they chanted, and 'Slovakia is Europe.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Majority of Americans back sanctions on Russia, allies that purchase oil: Survey
A majority of Americans say they support sanctions on Russia and its allies over the ongoing war with Ukraine, according to a poll released Friday by YouGov. The survey found that 44 percent of U.S. citizens said the country should increase sanctions on Moscow, compared to 19 percent who say the set sanctions should remain. Twenty three percent of respondents were unsure about how to move forward while 6 percent said sanctions should be decrease. Nine percent said the U.S. should end all sanctions. The survey was taken after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other GOP lawmakers urged President Trump to punish his counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin, with economic restrictions following repeated strikes on Kyiv. The over three years-long war has been backed by U.S. dollars sent to Ukraine to bolster their defense against their neighbor. Graham said he believes his bill, which has more than 60 cosponsors, to impose new sanctions on Russia and tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and uranium would help put an end to the conflict overseas. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has spoken out against the effort while Trump his still mulling his support. 'The Graham bill would derail President Trump's efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Self-defeating economic warfare is no way to achieve peace,' Paul said on the social media platform X. 'This bill won't force China or India to change behavior, but it will impose an effective embargo on ourselves that will hurt American families,' he said. YouGov's Friday poll shows that most Democrats — 59 percent — and more than a third of Republicans, 37 percent, support sanctions on Russia. Forty-two percent of independents said they feel the same. YouGov's poll was conducted online between June 12 and June 16 with 1,133 U.S. adult citizens from an opt-in panel. The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Thousands protest Bulgaria's euro adoption and call for a referendum
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Days before Bulgaria was expected to become the 21st member of the eurozone, opponents of the move geared up Saturday for a final battle to change the schedule. Thousands of protesters gathered on a central square in downtown Sofia to protest government plans to adopt the euro and to demand a referendum on the new currency. The European Union has given the green light for Bulgaria to adopt the euro starting Jan. 1. The protesters, led by civic groups, nationalist and pro-Russian parties known for their opposition to the euro, declared that after the rally they intended to set up a tent camp on the central square, dubbed 'Town of the lev,' after the name of the national currency. On a platform for speakers hung a huge banner that read 'The battle for the Bulgarian lev is the last battle for Bulgaria.' The leader of the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party Kostadin Kostadinov told the protesters that the country will be stripped of its currency. 'Someone else will decide how we spend our money, the Bulgarian budget will be approved by the European Central Bank," he said. 'This is an anti-state coup, this is treason.' Kostadinov announced that lawmakers from Germany, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have joined the event to support the protest. Ahead of the demonstration, Vazrazhdane submitted in Parliament a motion for a vote of no confidence in the current government, accusing it of failing to undertake necessary reforms to restore stability to public finances and working for the forceful adoption of the euro. Parliament will vote on the motion next week, but the pro-EU government coalition is expected to survive. The Balkan country joined the European Union in 2007 and is now on the final stretch of its accession to the eurozone. The last institutional hurdle is the approval from both the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels, scheduled for July 8. These steps come after the European Council gave its clear endorsement of Bulgaria joining the eurozone on Jan. 1, 2026. During its almost two decades-long EU membership, Bulgaria has been plagued by political instability and corruption that have fueled euroscepticism among its 6.4 million citizens. Economists say joining the euro will not bring massive change to Bulgaria's economy in the short run. That's because the government has pegged the currency to the euro by law, at a fixed rate of 1 lev for every 51 eurocents.
Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Armenia arrests another top cleric over an alleged coup plot
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia has arrested a second prominent cleric on charges of plotting against the government, the latest escalation in a clampdown on outspoken critics of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. A court in Yerevan on Saturday ordered Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan to be held in pre-trial detention for two months, his lawyer Ara Zohrabyan said. He said the decision was 'obviously illegal and unfounded' saying his client will appeal. State prosecutors accuse Ajapahyan of publicly calling for an armed ouster of the government. On Friday, security forces faced off with crowds at the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church outside Yerevan as they tried to arrest Ajapahyan. Videos circulating on social media showed clergymen jostling with police, while bells of a nearby cathedral rang out. After Armenia's National Security Service urged Ajapahyan to appear before authorities, local media showed him entering the building of Armenia's Investigative Committee in his gray robes. 'I have never hidden and I am not going to hide now,' Ajapahyan told reporters on Friday. 'I say that what is happening now is lawlessness. I have never been and am not a threat to this country, the main threat is in the government.' Last year, tens of thousands of demonstrators called for Pashinyan's ouster after Armenia agreed to hand over control of several border villages to Azerbaijan and to normalize relations between the neighbors and bitter rivals. On Wednesday, authorities arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan , who leads the Sacred Struggle opposition movement. He was accused of plotting a sabotage campaign to overthrow Pashinyan, charges that his lawyer rejected as 'fiction.' Members of Sacred Struggle, which has bitterly opposed the handover of the border villages, accused the government of cracking down on political rights. Although the territorial concession was the movement's core issue, it has expanded to a wide array of complaints about Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018. Another vocal critic of Pashinyan, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, was arrested last week on charges of calling for the government's overthrow, which he denied. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in territorial disputes since the early 1990s, as various parts of the Soviet Union pressed for independence from Moscow. After the USSR collapsed in 1991, ethnic Armenian separatist forces backed by the Armenian military won control of Azerbaijan's region of Karabakh and nearby territories. In 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured broad swaths of territory that were held for nearly three decades by Armenian forces. A lightning military campaign in September 2023 saw Azerbaijan fully reclaim control of Karabakh, and Armenia later handed over the border villages. Pashinyan has recently sought to normalize relations with Azerbaijan. Last week, he also visited Azerbaijan's top ally , Turkey, to mend a historic rift. Turkey and Armenia have a more than century-old dispute over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey. Historians widely view the event as genocide. Turkey vehemently rejects the label, conceding that many died in that era but insisting the death toll is inflated and resulted from civil unrest. Attempts to impeach Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018, were unsuccessful. Although territorial concessions were a core issue for Sacred Struggle, it has expanded to a wide array of complaints about Pashinyan as the Apostolic Church's relationship with the government deteriorated. On June 8, Pashinyan called for church leader Karekin II to resign after accusing him of fathering a child despite a vow of celibacy. The church released a statement at the time accusing Pashinyan of undermining Armenia's 'spiritual unity' but did not address the claim about the child. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
