Organisers cancelled the Bratislava protest

But they are ready to monitor the steps of the new government closely and return to streets when necessary.

Andrej Kiska met with the representatives of the For a Decent Slovakia initiative.Andrej Kiska met with the representatives of the For a Decent Slovakia initiative. (Source: SITA)

The For a Decent Slovakia gathering planned for March 23 in Bratislava has been cancelled.

“President Kiska appointed the new government today,” the organisers informed in a press release, as quoted by the Sme daily. “Thus, we decided that the For a Decent Slovakia gathering will not take place in Bratislava on Friday. Since the very beginning, we have been representing the public voice and we are proud of what it has achieved.”

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Decent people respect the constitution, they added, stressing that the next steps are expected to be made by the parliament.

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Activities will continue

Read also: Kiska appoints Pellegrini cabinet Read more 

“We are not leaving; we will closely monitor the systemic changes the new government promised to make,” the organisers continued.

They are founding a civil platform bearing the same name as the series of gatherings, with the aim to support the public engagement and unite people calling for a fair and decent Slovakia.

They stressed they are ready to enter the streets anytime.

“We will develop various forms of civil pressure to make sure the investigation of the murders of Ján and Martina is completed without suspicions of connection between the state institutions and organised crime. We want to see the Interior Ministry acting independently, and not as a party’s subsidiary.”

Meeting with the president

Earlier this week, the representatives of the For a Decent Slovakia initiative met with President Andrej Kiska on March 20. They agreed that Slovakia needs to restore trust in the government.

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Kiska thanked the initiative, represented at the meeting by Karolína Farská, Katarína Nagy Pazmány, Tatiana Sedláková and Juraj Šeliga, which has organised three gatherings held across Slovakia and abroad in the past weeks.

“The whole world has looked at us, and the marches in Slovakia that have been the biggest since 1989, the marches that were decent and cultivated, where we really showed Slovakia is a decent country, for which I need to appreciate these young people,” Kiska said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.

The president explained to the representatives of the initiative what steps he will take to start the process of restoring the trust in state, which will not be easy and will take some time. The basic task needs to be fulfilled by the new government, whose composition he rejected on March 20. He is now expecting a new proposal of government members, SITA wrote.

Protests will continue in other towns

Despite the decision to cancel the gathering in Bratislava, other towns will continue in protests. The gatherings were also confirmed abroad.

In addition, students from several Bratislava-based universities will organise a silent march at 16:30 on Friday, meeting in front of Comenius University building on Šafárikovo Square from which they will walk to SNP Square. There they will light candles for Kuciak and Kušnírová, the Denník N daily wrote.

These Slovak towns will hold protests on Friday:

Events abroad:

This article was first published on March 20.

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